Space Dementia
by The Batchild
Summary: GOING TO BE REWRITTEN. I'm not deleting this one until I have the new one started however. It'll be under the same title and I may just replace the chapters, but I'll let you, my loyal readers, know.
1. Chapter One: Smugglers

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter One. Smugglers.

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><p>It was a bright and mild day, perfect for being outside. Many around the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone were spending it just like that, wandering through the busy district, examining newly imported merchandise, meeting new people and exploring possible opportunities. Some were just looking for food or work, but most people were smiling, probably because of the warmth and the sun. The docks were a busy place on any given day, but that day seemed to bring some extra draw to the area, as the streets and improvised alleyways were so tightly packed it was hard to move with any sort of speed, and there was a pervading smell of sweat and dirt everywhere. The crowds and the smells weren't enough to dampen the moods of those truly out for opportunity, but for some, it was only the last straw in a string of things leading to a dark, dark mood; one person in particular was surly and she wasn't afraid to let everyone around her know it.<p>

"Why the hell did we come here? There's nothing worthwhile in this God-forsaken port."

Nikita Shen, Niki for short, looked over her shoulder at Halo, her churlish friend and traveling companion, and rolled her dark brown eyes. She chuckled and put a little extra bounce in her step for a few paces, knowing it would annoy Halo. "First of all, we didn't choose to come here; this is just where that freight ship was headed, and secondly, it's been a long time since we've looked for work on Persephone. Maybe there will be something here this time." Niki smiled brightly when Halo huffed and then continued to cut a path through the thick crowd. She had to stop skipping, but there was still a grin on her lips. Niki was undaunted by everything that day that deemed to leave Halo with a sour taste in her mouth; it was that way most days. "You've got to think a little more positively sometimes, Halo. We'll find work eventually."

"Like hell we will. Nik, there is _nothing _for us here, just like last time. Are you even listening to these offers? I am not sleeping my way to the next world, not again." She scowled loudly and crossed her arms under her chest as she walked, her right hand idly resting on the butt of her sidearm, tucked in its holster under her breast.

Niki suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her friend, her black ponytail swinging rather dramatically over her shoulder. Halo nearly bumped into the shorter woman, the scowl deepening as she regained her balance and straightened her black, knee-length coat with terse movements. "Stop fondling your gun," Niki snapped, batting Halo's hand away. She gestured over her shoulder with a flick of her head. "Badger is on his way over here and he'll have work for us; he always does, and it rarely involves sleeping with anybody." The last was meant as a joke, but Halo wasn't in the mood. Niki sighed heavily and wrapped her hands around Halo's upper arms, drawing her friend closer to her. "Would you please smile? Or something? You're depressing as hell lately and you're making it very hard to remain my usual sunny self."

Halo glared, her pale blue eyes narrowing sharply. "Then stop trying."

Niki opened her mouth to reply, her gloved fingers tightening on Halo's arms, but the argument that was on the tip of Niki's tongue died as Badger, the small, squirrely man, appeared at her side and gave them a deeply slimly grin. He was flanked by two of his ever-present hoard of bodyguards and other assorted muscle; the rest weren't fair behind, to be sure. Halo pulled herself out of Niki's grip and just rolled her eyes, scowling again as Niki gave a polite but meaningless smile in greeting.

"'Ello ladies. It's been a while since I saw your lovely faces on this rock."

"Fuck off Badger," Halo snapped, turning her ire on the hated man as she shouldered her way in front of Niki. Even when business relations were good, Halo and Badger had never gotten along. Something about the man just set Halo's teeth on edge and she tended to follow her gut. "We're not interested in whatever the job is."

The man spread his hands to either side, showing that he was unarmed and harmless; Halo didn't buy it for a second, nor should she have. Badger never went anywhere without his posse, nor without a weapon of some kind concealed on his person. "Come now Halo, you haven't yet heard what the offer is. It's nothing dangerous like last time," he said in his thickly accented voice. He gave a wide, unsettling grin. "Promise."

"We're. Not. Interested."

Niki shoved Halo out of the way and put herself between the bickering pair. She turned sideways so she could see both Halo and Badger at the same time. After levelling a look that said, "we need to think about this one, Halo, or we'll be without food and money again," she said loud enough for everyone involved to hear: "Hang on Halo. We should at least listen to what the job is."

"There's a smart girl." Niki gave Badger that same empty smile and gestured for him to continue as they both ignored Halo's curses. "I've got some cargo that needs to be moved off Persephone under the radar, if you know what I mean. It's bound for a small settlement on Three Hills. All you two needs to do is find passage to the colony and deliver the cargo to the buyer. Simple, yeah?"

"Nothing is that simple, you slimly little twerp," Halo sneered from over Niki's shoulder.

Niki elbowed Halo hard enough to get her to shut up and turned her pleasant face back to Badger. "What's the cargo? Who's the buyer?"

Badger made a disapproving clucking noise in the back of his throat and scratched at his forehead underneath the rim of his old bowler hat. "Now now Niki, I can't just go telling you what sort of goods I be moving or who wants 'em; people'll think they can't trust ol' Badger to keep their secrets." He turned his dark eyes up at her. "That'd be bad for business, love, and though I am many things, a bad businessman is not one of them."

"There's no deal if you don't tell us what the cargo is, Badger," Niki informed him in her most diplomatic voice.

"Maybe if you was to agree we could work out some sort of arrangement."

"To hell with this," Halo barked from her position behind the negotiating party. She slapped Niki's hands away from her arm and stomped away from the group, right hand resting firmly on her sawed-off shotgun—read security blanket—secured in the thigh holster that was nearly always strapped to her right leg. Her coat flapped dramatically in a stray breeze; the same breeze carried several rather colourful but unsurprising, curses back to Niki's ears. She stopped a few steps away and looked over her shoulder. "You know how we work Badger. Either deal with it or you don't get our services and you know we're two of the best. We work fast and cheaper than most and we don't have a history of drawing attention to ourselves." She turned around and started walking again, cursing loudly as someone bumped into her.

Badger raised his eyebrows at Halo's vanishing back as he nodded absently, indicating that he'd heard everything she had said. "Your friend has quite the mouth," he observed.

"Yeah, she does, but she's right Badger. You know we don't work under mysterious circumstances, so why do you keep trying?"

"Hoping that you two will come to your senses is all."

"Well no dice. Find someone else to carry your cargo."

"You two are never going to eat if you keep turning down honest jobs."

Niki gave Badger the full weight of her disbelief and crossed her arms to enhance her displeasure. "Honest my ass," she said before turning on the heel of her boot and striding after Halo, who had all but disappeared into the crowd.

Halo was not, in fact, that far ahead of her friend, but Niki was looking for the signature black leather jacket and Halo had removed it, looking for some relief from the heat and claustrophobia that had set it. Coat draped over her arm, Halo had turned towards where the various ships were actually docked, crewmembers shouting the price for passage in hopes there would be a reasonable fare among them, or someone who would let them work for passage. If they couldn't find work, the least she could look for was a way off Persephone. Also, being around ships always made her feel calm; something to do with the thought of being out in the black, among the stars, was peaceful for her and she needed peace after dealing with Badger. Another plus would be if the dark clouds on the horizon amounted to some rain. It had been so long since she'd felt rain. The older of the traveling companions made it to a more open area of Eavesdown and settled herself on a crate to watch the people and the clouds before Niki caught up with her, her dark brown eyes bright with frustration.

"Don't get mad at me," Halo said before Niki even had a chance to organize her thoughts. "The last time we worked without knowing what the cargo was, we ended up transporting children and nearly got our asses handed to us by the Alliance. We had to up our rules. I'm not getting caught in that situation again."

Niki agreed with everything Halo was saying. "I might have been able to make Badger tell us what the cargo was."

Halo pushed herself off the crate and started walking again, heading closer to the ships and away from the more business-centred area. "Then why aren't you back there talking to him?"

Niki sighed and something in the noise told Halo she wasn't really going to like the answer, but she was going to hear it anyway. "Because," Niki started, "Even though we haven't had a decent meal in several months, nor a secure place to sleep for more than a few nights at a time, I know you wouldn't have helped me with that job, even if I could get Badger to give me all the information, and we know how well I do by myself." Niki gave Halo a small smile, one she didn't return. Niki groaned loudly and threw her head back so she was looking up at the sky. "We agreed we would find a way to re-establish our life together. We can't do that if one of us takes jobs the other one won't work on." Niki settled herself against the crate and ran the fingers of one hand through her bangs. "Why don't you trust I can handle some things?"

"Because I had to teach you how to shoot a gun properly."

"And shooting a gun is everything—right, I forgot."

Halo stood up quickly and started through the crowd again, heading towards the end of the dock they were on. "We're not having this fight again, Nikita."

"You weren't the only one who taught me to take care of myself."

Since they both knew how the fight was going to go, Halo wasn't playing. She would say she knew that, and then Niki would bring her older brothers who had taught her to hunt and track—both of whom had died in the Reaver attack that had left Niki an orphan—into the conversation and Halo wouldn't have anything to counter with except that she had lost her entire family to the Reavers as well, including her four brothers who had pretty much raised her. Then, it would inevitably devolve into the argument of whose past had been more traumatic and who was worse off. It was an argument they'd had many times since their lives had crossed paths seven years ago. They'd met after spending years trying to make it in the Verse on their own, when they'd joined the same settlement effort bound for one of the outer border planets.

Instead of reciting her lines, Halo just remained quiet and let Niki natter on about how they had to work together and communicate better if they wanted to find a stable life again. She listened to Niki as she remembered the last time they had a decent meal, a comfortable bed, fresh water, everything considered basic, and she listened when Niki began to reminisce about the home they'd set up on Deadwood. Halo just let her go on and let her own eyes wander from ship to ship, taking in the different makes and models and the different modifications people had made to keep their boats flying. Some were very unorthodox, but seemed functional; someone had even affixed a strange little statue to the front of their ship to create an impromptu hood ornament. Halo smiled to herself at that, and the gesture was apparently inappropriate because Niki launched into an entirely new tirade.

"Niki, shut up for a minute," Halo finally said.

The abruptness of Halo's voice brought Niki to silence. "What?" she asked, her face betraying how angry she still was.

"Maybe I should have let you talk to Badger, Nik, but you don't need to rub it into my face. I know we need a job and I know we need money. You don't have to keep telling me." Halo scratched the back of her neck, under the complicated knot she wore her hair in most of the time, before using the hand to gesture at the ships around them. "Badger isn't the only person we've worked with on Persephone before, Nik. Let's go find some of the others."

Niki sighed. "You're right. But damn it, Halo, we need food. Not that protein shit."

Halo gave Niki a rare, wide smile. "I know, but I'm not ready to settle for the bottom of the barrel yet. Let's finish listening to the prices for passage and see if we can't find someone who will let us work for it." She started walking again and Niki fell in stride beside her. "I want to be out in the black again."

"What is it with you and space? It's like you're allergic to solid ground."

Halo shrugged.

Eventually, the girls ran out of dock to tread and were forced to stop as they rounded the last corner on the C-shaped dock. There were no empty spaces, but the far end of the dock was less crowded. Halo settled herself on another crate and folded her legs underneath her. Niki started talking again, but Halo didn't hear what she was saying, nor was she likely to.

Her pale blue eyes had found a firefly-class vessel nestled in the second-to-last spot on the outer side of the docks. It was big, but not overly so, not like some of the other ships they'd passed, and though the ship was worn, there was an unmistakable air of care about it; someone had obviously put time and effort into keeping the ship in one piece; someone cared about the old girl. The ship and its undeniable character brought a small smile to Halo's face. The desire to see inside the ship welled inside Halo and she dropped her eyes to the open loading dock and the people milling about in front of it, hoping to see some sign that they were talking on passengers. She saw an older man who looked like he might have been a Sheppard, judging by his attire, and a younger woman talking to random passers-by; it looked promising.

"Let's go check out that boat," Halo said, sliding off the crate.

"What? That old thing?"

"Fireflys are great ships. My oldest brother wanted to get his hands on one if he could."

"What for?"

Halo shrugged as she stopped to let a man carrying a large crate pass. "I don't know. He never said what he wanted it for. Let's just go see how much they want for passage... wherever they're headed." Halo made it a few more steps toward the firefly before she stopped again, this time because someone else had appeared by the Sheppard. The man with the crate had ascended the ramp and placed the box in the cargo hold before turning to say something to the pair looking for passengers. "He looks familiar..." Halo said to herself.

"Who?" Before Halo could answer, Niki followed her gaze to the big man and her jaw fell open. "No way! Jayne!"

Halo blinked. She didn't know Jayne, but evidently, Niki did.

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

Yeah, I know. I don't need another fandom, but I found one in **Firefly**. Well, actually, my first exposure was through the movie **Serenity**, but for the life of me, I'm not sure why it took me so damn long to get around to the TV show. I love it though. So, so much. And the fic just kind of popped into my head on the heels of Halo, who came barrelling in, screaming at me to write about her.

For your reference, the fic starts after the episode "The Message" and covers time from there into the space between the movie and the show, and then the end of the movie. I may write more that takes place after the movie, but that'll be another fic and won't be for a while.

I decided to try some different things with this fic, so hopefully it goes well, and clearly, I took some liberties with the Verse because I couldn't find a concrete map—just a list of names. So apologizes if I messed up. Correct me, and I will fix it. Just correct me politely, please. Also, the rating may change, but I'm not sure about that right now and I won't be until later on. I can always change it later. And I apologize in advance if someone gets mad that I eliminated the random Chinese phrases. I didn't want to attempt those and screw them up as I know I would. So you get English curses instead.

Okay, I've said this before, but this is a teaser chapter and something I had to get out of my system before I could finish up some of my other fics. This rotating pattern isn't working. It didn't work last time, so I'm not sure why I thought it would work this time... However, I'm still going to try and at least update all of the fics fairly regularly. I'm going to try and finish up a couple of the shorter planned fics so I can move onto this fic (which I'm super excited to write) and some others that I can't wait to get started on.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the insanity.

**Next Chapter: Unexpected Reunion. **


	2. Chapter Two: Unexpected Reunion

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Two. Unexpected Reunion.

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><p>The big man—evidently named Jayne. Why did he have a woman's name?—was dressed in a t-shirt and cargos, army boots and a surly attitude, with a veritable arsenal strapped about his person. He was rough-looking and Halo knew there were more weapons concealed somewhere; he didn't look like the kind of person Niki would voluntarily be involved with. He was dark and dangerous. Halo frowned as Niki made her way across the docks to the firefly, trying to picture Jayne and Niki hanging around, trying to make the connection between the two, and she was having a lot of trouble doing so. They were just so different. Niki was bright and shiny, not angry and confrontational.<p>

The only conclusion Halo could draw was that Jayne must have been a very different man whenever he and Niki had known each other.

Halo followed Niki at a walk, a deep frown creasing her brow. She didn't like where this was going. Maybe she was being paranoid or maybe she was just suspicious, but she didn't like this. Something about the situation was making her skin squirm. Or maybe she just needed a drink.

"Jayne! Jayne!" Niki called again as she neared the ship, her face already split in a wide grin.

Jayne, a confused look on his face, turned from his conversation with the Shepherd just in time for Niki to slide to a stop in front of him and throw her arms around his neck. She pulled herself to him with an enthusiasm that said she was seeing someone she hadn't in a long time and someone she had never expected to see again. It had to have been at least seven years since they saw each other, because Halo had never seen Jayne and that was how long her and Niki had been together. As for never expecting to see him again… Well, everyone in Niki's past, in her family, was dead, and once the Reavers attacked and survivors scattered, you didn't hold out hope for ever seeing them again. The Verse was a big place with lots of holes to hide in, after all.

Halo would not have been shocked Niki hugging the man—the overly-affectionate action was not out of her sometimes scatterbrained behaviour—but she found herself surprised when the man called Jayne briefly returned the embrace before pulling Niki off of him and pushing her back far enough to get a good look at her, up and down. He gave her a strange look, like he was trying to place her face. It was a look that was quickly replaced by surprise and a disbelieving hint of a smile.

"Niki?" he asked.

Evidently, he knew her too.

Halo watched Niki beam up at the man, looking like a much younger girl and like some deep-seated hope had come to fruition, and suddenly Halo knew who Jayne was, why he looked familiar to her when she had never met him. She could have slapped herself. There was only one person who Niki would look at like that, one person who was still alive anyways; Halo put her hand over her face and rolled her eyes. This could not go well. Aside from a potentially free ride somewhere, this could really not go well, not with Niki acting like a little girl. She resisted the urge to grumble loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

Naturally, Niki and Halo had told each other stories about their lives after they'd spent a little time together, after they'd decided to live together in the new settlement and had grown comfortable around each other. Or, as comfortable as Halo ever got around someone. Once they had felt comfortable enough with each other, Niki had been the first to share; it was the first hint Halo had had to what Niki's true personality was. Her favourite stories had been about her oldest brother and his friend, two guys she had worshipped and looked up to and all that little-sister stuff. Halo knew what that was like—she had been the youngest of five and the only girl—but Niki's fascination with the friend had gone beyond what Halo would have considered normal; beyond following them everywhere and idolizing them. Halo had never managed to get the whole story out of Niki, but she had had her suspicions. All Halo knew for sure was that Niki had talked about Jayne a lot, but had only mentioned his name a few times.

Halo was pretty sure she'd never talked about anyone from her old life as much as Niki had about Jayne. That was mostly because she didn't want to dwell on what she had lost. Unlike Niki everyone, _absolutely everyone, _from her life before Niki was dead. There wasn't even a friend of a friend kicking around. She didn't have any one or any faint hope to cling to.

Halo sighed to herself and moved to stand at the bottom of the loading ramp, arms crossed under her chest and hand on the butt of her gun again, squeezing the weapon hard enough to make the metal dig into her hand and cause a little pain. Her movements caught the attention of those at the head of the ramp, but she didn't move her eyes from Niki, she didn't look at anyone else. She tried to convey what she was feeling through that gaze and trying to tell Niki not to do what Halo was sure was going to.

"Who's your friend?" Jayne asked, looking down at Halo over Niki's head; since she only came up to his chest, that wasn't hard.

"Her name is Halo," Niki said before Halo could introduce herself. "No last name and don't ask for that story because I don't even know it."

Halo pulled her eyes from Niki to look at Jayne. She narrowed her eyes a little. Jayne smiled at her.

Before the introductions could start, finish or whatever, someone else appeared on the ramp. He looked at all assembled, one eyebrow raised and a curious look on his face, before he turned to Jayne; the Shepherd and the young woman disappeared inside of the ship without a word. The newcomer was wearing a long, brown trench coat and there was a sidearm visible near one gloved hand.

"What's taking so long?" he asked. "We've got to get underway."

Niki didn't seem keen on giving anyone else an opportunity to speak that day. She stepped around Jayne and stood in front of the man Halo assumed was in command of the firefly; something about the way he stood there in the ship said he owned it. She beamed up at him and clasped her hands behind her back, playing up the innocence that was such a large part of her appearance. "I'm Nikita Shen; that's Halo, no last name. I was just saying hi to an old friend and she is being all surly about it."

The owner of the firefly peered around Niki's shoulder at Halo and then looked back at the woman in front of him. "And is there anything else we can do for you?" the man asked, putting his hands on his hips and giving Niki the full force of his attention.

Niki's smile didn't falter. She remained bright and shiny and even put a little swing in her posture. Halo kind of wanted to smack her; she knew what she was dreading was about to come into light. "We're looking for passage," Niki said in a tone that was nearly sing-song. "We're willing to work for it."

Halo groaned and started up the ramp, prepared to grab Niki and march away. She didn't like to beg or broadcast willing to work and that's what Niki was doing. Halo would do a lot for work, but she didn't whore herself out. Before she could grab Niki, the young girl moved out of the way, still smiling and continued talking to the captain of the ship. She moved as if she could see Halo out of the back of her head. Halo threw her hands up and stomped back down the ramp, heading back towards the main part of the Eavesdown Docks. As consumed in her emotions as she was, she was unaware of someone following her.

"Where are you going?"

Halo didn't stop walking, just shouted over her shoulder at Jayne. "I'm going to find a drink. Tell Miss Can't-Keep-Her-Fucking-Mouth-Shut over there that I'll be at the nearest bar and she can come and find me when she's done whoring us out."

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><p>"Why should I let you on board my boat? We're tight on space as it is and you've already told me you had no money to pay your way. I'm not in the habit of giving free rides."<p>

Niki looked up at Mal from underneath her eyelids with her mouth twisted in frustration. She was leaning on the counter in the dining area of _Serenity_, which was the name of the ship, with part of the crew arrayed around her. Mal and Zoe, the captain and first mate, were standing directly in front of Niki, both with their arms crossed across their chests and had matching expressions on their faces. Jayne was mirroring the posture behind Niki, almost like he was keeping her from running or attempting to escape. Niki was the one with the patience, and it was growing thin. It wasn't so much the questioning by the crew as it was Halo's vanishing act, and that was because Niki knew it was her fault.

"We don't have any money," Niki began, "but we will work for passage as I've already said. We'll do whatever we can to pay our way. Halo works security all the time; she's strong and a skilled fighter. She's killed Reavers before and survived two attacks. She doesn't go down easily and I haven't seen her meet a weapon she couldn't use including her own two hands."

"Say we take her on," Mal said, "why would we bring you as well? What can you do?"

Niki didn't miss a beat. "I can cook. I know how to use a gun, especially anything that's long range, and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I'm also the more diplomatic of the two of us, and the only one who can talk Halo down. All her fighting ability comes with a temper and a terrible attitude. If you want Halo, you've got to bring me so you don't toss her out the airlock." She leaned a little farther over the table. "Something tells me, Mal, that you don't want a murder charge under your belt and _believe me_, if you bring Halo on board you are going to want to throw her out an airlock at some point." Niki may have been scatterbrained sometimes, but she wasn't stupid and she knew how to talk her way into or out of a situation.

"You'll do anything for passage?" Mal asked, his eyebrow raised again.

The young woman stood up and crossed her arms to match the others. She put a smug look on her face. "As long as it doesn't involve anything seriously illegal like transporting humans, then yes."

"You can answer for Halo?"

Niki looked at Zoe and nodded, her face dead serious. "We've been together for seven years."

"'Been together' how?"

The look Niki gave Jayne over her shoulder was not overly happy. "We're friends, family." She turned back to Mal, the smug look gone on the heels of desperation. "Look, Mal, it's been a long fucking time since me and Halo have had a decent meal, a job that'd give us a chance at settling down somewhere else. We need work. Halo's about to break and either kill someone or kill herself."

"How do you know that?" the captain inquired, actually looking a little concerned.

"Her temper has been more out of control than usual and she's doing things she's never done before. She's survived a lot, but she doesn't like change, but this is the worst I've ever seen her." Niki's eyes went distant and she continued talking, but the words were quiet and she was no longer talking to anyone in the room. After a relatively quiet minute—where Mal, Zoe and Jayne exchanged looks of confusion—Niki looked up and sighed. "Halo would hate it if she knew I was going to do this, but please, _please_ will you at least take us to wherever your next destination is? We will pay you somehow, _someway_, when we can."

Mal echoed her sigh and nodded. "You and Halo will help with our current job. No one rides for free and I don't do I.O.U.s."

The smile that broke out across Niki's face was brilliant, full of that young girl charm. "Thank you so much." She gave Mal that smile a moment longer. "Now I've got to go find Halo…"

Jayne moved to stand beside Niki. "She said she was going to be at the nearest bar," he said. When the others looked at him curiously, he gave a half-shrug. "What? She told me before she took off."

"Shit. That means she's going to be drunk." Niki started moving quickly.

Mal grabbed her arm and swung her around, pulling her when she started to struggle. "You're going the wrong way."

She pulled herself free and nodded her thanks.

"Jayne, go with her. If she is drunk, she might need help getting this Halo back here."

As the big man followed Niki off _Serenity_, Zoe turned to Mal, her lips twisted into something between a grimace and a frown. "Are you sure this is a good idea Cap? Taking on these strangers?"

Mal sighed again and shook his head. "Truthfully, no, but we've got a lot of cargo to move quickly and two girls willing to do some heavy lifting. Besides, how much do we ever know about the people we take on as passengers?" He looked in the general direction of the guest quarters. "I mean, of the last three, two were fugitives. These two can't bring any more heat than that."

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><p>The bar Halo had found was a dark, dingy and smelly place, but it was full up and there wasn't a whole lot of room to move. Lights from the displays around the room cast everything into sharp relief and made it hard to tell who was who; what Halo had noticed when she entered the place however, was most of the people inside were men. Big men. Probably dock workers. She had shrugged and walked to the bar to get a drink. Unfortunately for her, she had apparently cut in front of someone and he was none too happy about it. He had pulled her back from the bar and started yelling.<p>

Halo, always ready for a fight, had slapped him across the face.

His answering punch connected solidly with Halo's chin and sent her stumbling back a few steps, back towards the bar and into the arms of the patrons still standing there. They pushed her back into the small area that had somehow managed to become clear of people. Her mouth filled with blood. As she righted herself, she turned her head to the side and spat the bloody spit all over some guy's shoe. He growled and Halo gave him the biggest grin she could manage.

"Why don't you join in asshole? It'll be fun."

Number Two took the bait and attempted to punch her in the face as well. She ducked under the swing, but missed the foot of number one headed for her ribs. It connected and sent her flying backwards into a table, bringing the dishes down on her head.

Number One grabbed her ankles and hauled her out from under the wreckage. "Why don't you give up girly?"

Halo did her best to look innocent and put her hands above her head. When the men began to back off, Halo drove her foot into Number One's crotch and attempted to leap to her feet, but thanks to the alcohol in her system, she fell onto her side, knocking Number Two onto his ass. But he recovered quickly.

Number Two was on his feet in a few seconds; clearly, he hadn't had as much to drink. He grabbed the front of Halo's shift and pulled her up, off her feet, pulling his arm back at the same time to punch her in the face. The punch broke her nose and blood cascaded down the front of her face. Halo just hung there and laughed. That made Number Two's face turn a brilliant shade of red as he bared his teeth at the woman in front of him. Halo tried to struggle some more as she laughed, but the man just growled as he tried to figure out the best way to hurt her while Number One writhed on the floor, clutching himself.

"HEY!" someone with a deep voice boomed.

Halo tried to figure out who the person was, but her eyes didn't seem to be working too well. A fist hit Number Two in the cheek and he went down. Unfortunately, that meant Halo dropped, her head bouncing off the floor and her world turning black.

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

Har har, Hero of Canton reference. THE MAN THEY CALL JAYNE!

So I'm happy to see some interest in this fic, but man, is it going to get crazy. I hope I'm able to live up to first impressions and to keep the characters in character. Man, is that a weird statement when you really think about it. Or, it could just be that I'm in a weird mood. That's always a possibility.

But yeah. I'm serious about the "it's gonna get crazy." But bear with me. The crazy comes mostly from Jayne, who doesn't exactly have the same outlook on things as most people do. So, open your minds and follow along if you want to.

Also, Nathan Fillion's show _Castle _is quite excellent. You all should watch it if you're hankering for some more Mal. *grin* Especially the Halloween episode from season 2, where he dresses up as Mal at the beginning. THAT was funny.

As always, enjoy.

Oh, and FYI, Niki and Halo aren't actually sisters. When I write "Halo and Nikita Shen" it doesn't mean they have the same last name. Halo has no last name, and the girls are not related. The story ain't gonna be THAT kind of weird. Not like _Game of Thrones_. *shudder* Anyways, just thought I'd clear that up because I have had some confusion expressed to me. Also, Halo is 29 and Niki is 26. I couldn't think of a decent way to get that into the fic, so there's the info. The ages are based on the only age I could find, which was Mal's in the movie, and that was 31.

And I'll share a revelation. Characters are subjective like the books, movies, television shows or whatever they appear in. I've discovered this recently after getting into a debate with one of my coworkers about the intentions of a character in a TV show. I mean, theoretically, I always knew that characters were as subjective as their media, but seriously, I never realized how much. Different people, based on their experiences and outlook and prejudices, will take the information given about a character and do different things with it. Now, this may be a defence for potential out-of-characterness in my own fics, but I thought it was pretty damn insightful.

Food for thought.

**Next Chapter: Space for Passengers. **


	3. Chapter Three: Space For Passengers

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Three. Space For Passengers.

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><p>Niki walked behind Jayne and Halo back to <em>Serenity, <em>watching her friend's arms flop about uselessly as they walked. Jayne had punched out the guys Halo had picked a fight with and then picked up the unconscious woman and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes; Niki was glad he had come, because she wasn't sure how she would have gotten Halo out of there otherwise. There was blood dripping out of her mouth and nose and Niki was almost sure there would be more injuries once they got her to the sick bay and the doctor examined her. Her long hair, usually bound in a complicated knot at the back of her head, had started to come loose and was swaying in time with Jayne's steps, but her hair and blood were the only things out of place. Somehow, her clothes and weapons had remained intact and in place during the scuffle, except for a bit of dust across her back and shoulders.

Niki was worried about Halo.

Before their colony had been attacked by Reavers, Halo had hardly ever had any alcohol. Ever. And her anger had mostly been taken out on a punching bag or in the manual labour she preformed around the colony. As their lives had worn on around the Verse and money and food and shelter had become scarce her drinking had increased, like the booze was the only thing that took the edge off. The alcohol had brought her temper to the forefront for the entire world to see along with a desire to fight like none Niki had ever seen. No matter where they went, she always found a bar to drink and someone at least twice her size to fight. Naturally, violence worked its way into other parts of Halo's life and had produced the angry, sometimes irrational and hot-headed woman who was currently hanging unconscious over Jayne's broad shoulder. Niki was sure that if she wasn't stopped, if Halo didn't find something else to occupy her time, if she didn't find steady work, she was going to get herself in a fight with the wrong person and she was going to end up dead.

Niki sighed and promised herself she would talk to Halo, for all the good it would do. Maybe she should take up drinking.

When they were back on the ship, preparations for take-off began and the metal began to rumble around them. It wasn't as loud as Niki had expected it to be. The trio made their way through the cargo bay to the sick bay where the doctor, Simon, was organizing the new medical supplies they had brought on board. Niki stayed long enough to make sure Halo was in good hands before she left; she didn't do too well with the sight of blood coming out of the people she cared about. She could always find something else to do.

Jayne laid the woman down on the examination chair rather roughly and turned to Simon. "She was knocked unconscious in a fight," he said.

"Why am I not surprise?" Simon turned to look at his patient, but at that moment Halo sat bolt upright, head spinning around and arms flailing like she was looking for someone to punch. "Jayne! Hold her down!" the doctor ordered.

For a brief second, Jayne considered telling the younger man off for ordering him around, but it was clear he wouldn't be able to hold Halo down and dope her up at the same time and if anyone needed doping, it was Halo. He moved around to her shoulders, but before he could push her back down, she whirled around and backhanded him across the face hard enough to make him stop for a moment, blinking. "Bitch!" He wrapped his arms around her middle, pinning her arms to her sides and she squirmed and threw her weight around, trying to escape; she still thought she was fighting those men in the bar. "Hey Doc, you wanna hurry it up here?"

"Let me go!" Halo screamed, trying to throw her head back into Jayne's face.

"I don't think so darlin," Jayne grunted as he tightened his grip.

Halo screamed, wordless, and tried vainly to wiggle free. Simon approached, the wary look in his eyes contradicting the determined set of his jaw, and pressed the needle against Halo's neck—the only bare skin he could easily reach. Halo went stiff and then her eyes closed and she slumped to one side in Jayne's arms. The big man let her go and she fell off the side of examination chair, her head hitting the metal platform on the way down and cutting a fresh wound in her forehead. Bright red blood dribbled onto the floor.

"Well shit."

"Could you pick her up please?" Simon asked.

Jayne frowned and then picked the once again unconscious Halo up and set her roughly down on the table, her head rolling to one side and a soft noise escaping from her mouth. A drop of blood rolled down over her eye from the wound in her forehead. Jayne's frown remained as he turned and walked from the medical bay while Simon began stitching Halo's new head wound closed.

When Halo awoke a few hours later, she was lying on the chair, covered with a blanket. Her trench coat had been removed and was folded neatly on the counter, leaving her back exposed through the low back of her shirt. It stuck to the chair beneath her. Her hair was messy—she could feel it slipping out of the complicated knot—and she felt like she weighed about a million tons. She assumed they were on _Serenity _now, since she could hear the faint noise of the engines and feel the boat shifting, so she knew there was artificial gravity, therefore, the only explanation for the heavy feeling was medication. She'd been doped. The injured woman groaned and tried to sit up. She managed, despite the swimming head, although she had to put her hands over her eyes because the light hurt her head.

Then she doubled over and threw up, all over the nice shiny floor.

The noise brought someone running into the room. When Halo could focus her vision long enough to see who it was, she found a man wearing a crisp white shirt and a vest of some kind. He looked way too neat and clean to be aboard a spaceship and he looked _soft_, like he had grown up in some cushy life. Why he would have given all that up for a life star-hopping, Halo couldn't say. Nor did she really care. Halo narrowed her eyes at him and tried to get off the table, but the man pushed her back into place. Doped as she was, Halo was easy to push around. She growled at who she assumed was the doctor, but he just gave her a thin smile and started checking her vitals.

"What the hell happened and why do I feel like shit? Who are you?" Halo asked, rubbing her head.

"My name is Simon," he said in a tone that suggested maybe he was hiding something, keeping something back. Or maybe that was the drugs. It was probably the drugs. "You were in a bar fight last night and then when you tried to attack Jayne for keeping you still, you fell and hit your head. I had to give you a sedative to calm you down."

Halo blinked at Simon. "Are you a doctor?"

He smiled and nodded. "I am." He looked down at the information he'd collected from her vitals. "Other than a few bruises and that cut on your head, you're fine."

"Other than you drugged me." Halo wanted to curse and swear and scream at the doctor, but she didn't. She didn't even try to hit him. Instead she sighed and attempted once again to stand up. She made it to the floor, but her knees buckled and sent her to the floor. Simon caught her awkwardly and lowered her to the floor so she didn't give herself anymore wounds. "Fuck, what they hell did you give me?"

Simon put his wrists against her forehead; his skin was smooth she noted and she knew he hadn't spent that long on a ship and he wasn't accustomed to work. Her initial assessment had to be correct. "You're not having a bad reaction to the sedative. Just don't try and move too fast and you'll be fine."

"You'd better hope so," she snapped, sparing the energy to glare at Simon. "I don't want to be in here any longer."

Niki appeared at the doorway then. "Well then I must have excellent timing." She grabbed Halo under the arm and helped to her feet with Simon on the other side. "I can take it from here. It's not the first time I've had to deal with Halo under less-than-stable circumstances."

"Shut it."

Niki smiled at Simon around Halo. "I'll make sure she doesn't run off or get in any fights or anything."

Something crossed Simon's face, like he'd protest, but then he nodded; he may not have much experience working, but it seemed he had experience dealing with difficult people and he knew not to push, especially when one was belligerent. He nodded and watched them leave the sick bay, shaking his head slowly from side to side. He set about cleaning up the medical bay.

Niki and Halo trudged over the metal floors and up a set up stairs, Halo leaning heavily on her friend. At the top they had to stop for Halo to rest, but after a few moments, they were up again and crossing a catwalk with no idea where they were going. Niki settled Halo with her back against the railing in the middle of the catwalk and then dropped to a sitting position across from her, arms crossed loosely across her stomach and a rather exasperated look on her face.

"I thought you said you knew where we were sleeping?" Halo snapped. "This ship ain't that big."

Niki just shrugged.

"What are you two doing?"

Niki and Halo looked up and found a slight woman standing at the entrance to one of the shuttles. She had curly black hair and dark eyes that seemed almost black in contrast to the red and gold robes she was wearing. The way she held herself spoke of confidence and comfort and there was something about her that just seemed familiar to Halo. The older of the two women rolled her head up to look at the newcomer, the motion enough to pull her over to her side on the metal catwalk.

"Are you all right?" the elegant woman asked, kneeling beside Halo.

"The doctor sedated her and it hasn't worn off yet," Niki answered.

The woman turned to face Niki. "Why isn't she in the medical bay?"

"Halo hates sick bays."

Not bothering to contain a sigh, the woman gestured at Niki. "Come on and help me get her up. She can rest in my shuttle; it's closest."

Niki climbed to her feet and swept her friend into a semi-upright position. Halo groaned and mumbled something unintelligible; the sedative didn't seem to be wearing off very fast. With the woman's help, Niki manoeuvred Halo into the shuttle—which turned out to be richly decorated in reds and golds like her outfit—and lay her on the couch. Halo's eyes rolled around the room and a confused twist took over her mouth.

"Thanks," Niki said.

"Not a problem. My name is Inara. I assume you two are the passengers Mal brought aboard at Persephone?"

"That's us. I'm Nikita Shen, Niki for short and that's Halo—no last name. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I will go get some shuteye."

Halo watched Niki leave and then turned to Inara, her features bunched in thought as she tried to figure out why the woman looked so familiar. "What's a companion doing on this ship?" she finally asked.

"I rent this shuttle from Mal so I can conduct my business freelance," she said as she settled herself in front of the low table. "It's my home. The crew is my family. I chose this place." She smiled as Halo nodded and then gestured to the tea set in front of her. "Would you like some tea? I was just making some when I heard the two of you outside." Halo nodded again and Inara began to prepare a cup. "Halo is an interesting name."

Feeling a little more herself, Halo slowly sat up and accepted the tea. "It's not the name my parents gave me."

"Why did you change it? If you don't mind me asking."

"I ditched it after I quit my companion training when I was thirteen." Halo almost laughed at the look Inara gave her; she liked this Inara. "Yeah, my parents enlisted me in the ranks of pleasure when I turned twelve. I didn't take to it, so I left." She paused over her tea and briefly wondered why she was so at ease talking to this woman about things Niki had only learned a couple years into their relationship. Of course, the confusion vanished when she remembered that Inara was a companion and it was her job to make people feel at ease to talk. Stupid drugs.

"Mind if I ask why you left?"

"I didn't like the idea of not being myself, of having to tailor myself to the client's desires." She settled back against the couch. "Would you mind if I slept here for a bit? My legs still feel like they're made of lead."

"By all means."

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

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><p>So, I know there are people who are uneasy about this fic, and I understand. I know how tight the fandom is around <strong>Firefly <strong>and **Serenity **and believe me, I mean no disrespect. If you are unsure about this fic with its OCs, you may want to turn away. I won't be offended. I'm writing this fic for me and my friend who are being Halo and Niki and for anyone who wants to take a look. I'm doing my best to maintain the spirit of the Verse here, and I apologize for any mistakes.

Moving on from the serious stuff, writing this fic is a lot of fun and I'm glad there are people who are enjoying it.

I didn't know what to call the chair thing that's in the sick bay on _Serenity. _So you get examination chair, examination table, or just chair or table while they're in the medical bay. They won't be in there that often, so it doesn't matter that much. If anyone knows the term, just lemme know. If there even is a term beyond examination chair.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Catching Up. <strong>


	4. Chapter Four: Catching Up

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Four: Catching Up.

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><p>Halo was an idiot and Niki was getting sick of watching her get herself drunk, beat up and otherwise injured. She was tired of her friend making a complete and total ass of herself. Niki was tired of having to clean up and take care of Halo. For a few minutes after leaving Halo with Inara, Niki just wandered around the ship, grumbling about her friend and her newfound habits. She wasn't looking for anything other than a place to run, expend some energy. Or maybe a comfortable place to sit and mope. Or maybe a place to stand and mope. Maybe something to eat as well. She liked to eat when she was upset or nervous and lately, Halo was making her upset, nervous and a whole slew of other emotions that only food could deal with.<p>

She did a couple laps of the cargo bay, trying to calm herself down. Niki even tried jogging for a bit. Running. Sprinting. It didn't work. Of course, the fact that she kept nearly running into the workout equipment probably didn't help. So she climbed the stairs and moved along the catwalks, wondering if she could run on those without making a lot of noise. Probably not. So she walked. Still didn't help. Niki took to the corridors of the ship and started wandering up and down, ignoring anyone she passed. As it was about midnight and everyone seemed to be asleep, that was no one.

In lieu of room to run, she went in search of a place to sit.

She wanted to scream.

Her mindless travels eventually took her to the centre of the ship, where the dining and kitchen areas were. She found a cluster of chairs and dropped heavily into one. Niki shifted around for a few minutes trying to find a comfortable position, but she was unsuccessful. Grumbling to herself, she got up and paced around the kitchen for a few minutes, raking her hands through her hair and rubbing at her face vigorously, trying to take out her frustration on herself to avoid taking it out on anyone or anything else.

She was more than happy to _finally _be aboard a ship. It had been so long since they had had anything resembling the comforts of a ship. They had a place to stay, food to eat, people to talk to who weren't after one thing or another—other than some honest work—and a job to do. This was the best they'd had it in a long time, but something just told Niki it wasn't going to go as well as she was hoping it would. She hadn't told Halo this, but she wanted to find a colony and settle down. She wanted to find a real job and live a more normal life. Sure, she liked trekking around the stars, but Niki wanted something more stable, more secure, and she didn't want to be anywhere where the Reavers could easily attack her ever again.

She gave a strangled and wordless cry and closed the distance to the table with a few march-like steps before dropping heavily into another chair, stiffer and less comfortable than the previous one. But she managed to find a comfortable position and crossed her arms loosely over her stomach, her brown eyes roaming around the room.

The dining area of the ship was brightly coloured and there were flowers hand painted on the walls. It was a little bizarre to find this bright room in the middle of a spaceship, an old spaceship, but Niki kind of liked it. She was of the opinion that kitchens should be bright and welcoming; the house her and Halo had shared had had a yellow kitchen with lots of windows. It had been Niki's favourite room in the house, the place she had felt the most comfortable and the most at home, the place where she had spent the most time. The fact that she did all the cooking helped. Niki had had to cook, lest she wanted to die of food poisoning. Halo couldn't cook worth shit. The thought made her smile a bit.

She stared at the table in front of her and sighed heavily as the happy thought passed, remembering the kitchen that was now a pile of ashes somewhere, lost in the wind and the bloody remains left after the Reaver attack. As her eyes closed, Niki became more aware of the ship moving through space, of the groans and shifts of the metal and the whirs and beeps of the machinery around her. It was calming, comforting and everything it should not have been, or at least everything it wasn't expected to be. If someone hadn't sat down at the table and made the wood creak, Niki would have fallen asleep sitting with her arms crossed in that chair, listening to _Serenity _around her.

"Still with the midnight snacks Nik?"

Niki opened one eye and peered at Jayne; somehow she had known it would be him sitting there when she opened her eyes. He ate more than she did. "Do I look like I'm eating?" When Jayne blinked at her, she just flashed the big man a bright grin, the same grin that made her look like a girl again. Jayne gave her a small smile back and they stared at each other for a moment before Niki finally asked, "How have you been Jayne? I haven't seen you since you told me you were leaving to… become whatever you're calling yourself." As she spoke, Niki moved from the table towards the kitchen. Jayne's eyes tracked her the whole way.

"I've been fine. You cooking?"

"Of course." Niki started looking around the kitchen.

"How's your brother?" Jayne asked after several moments of silence.

In the midst of digging through the cupboards and boxes that held the food for the ship, Niki paused, hands hovering over a crate of eggs. She had been expecting this topic to come up, but not so soon. How could she explain what had happened to her oldest brother's best friend? How could she explain that she survived when her brothers hadn't? How could she explain that the little girl who had followed them around had survived when her big, strong brothers hadn't? Niki closed her eyes and took a deep breath against the wash of survivor's guilt. She cleared her throat and stood up, hands on her hips. Niki took a deep breath, quickly running through several methods of explanation in her head.

"He… He died in a Reaver attack several years ago," she said, her eyes dropping back to the suddenly very interesting crate of eggs. After that, it just kind of poured out. "Both my brothers and my parents did. The whole colony did. The only reason I survived was because I wasn't even at the colony. I was out walking through the woods and I came back to find the place in a smouldering ruin." Niki forced herself to stop and then to look up at Jayne and give him a small smile, even though there were tears in her eyes. "It doesn't matter. It was a long time ago and I have Halo now. She's my family."

"How did you end up with someone like her?"

Niki shrugged as she started throwing ingredients together. She wasn't surprised to hear a little hostility in Jayne's voice. Halo had that affect on people. "Maybe I'm destined to always end up surrounded by meatheads," she said with a pointed look at Jayne. Her brothers had been cut from the same cloth as the big man sitting at the table and she was pretty sure Halo had been as well. When Jayne just grunted at her comment, Niki continued, cooking as she spoke. "Halo saved me once. It was after I'd been wandering around for a long time without anywhere to go or anything to do or anything to eat. I was alone and depressed. Didn't know anyone or even really where I was. She saw me trying to steal some food and then paid for it so I wouldn't get in trouble or arrested or killed. After that, she just sort of started keeping an eye on me." Niki leaned against the counter as diced peppers sizzled in the frying pan behind her. "How did you end up on this ship?"

"Mal made me a better offer than the guy I was working for."

"Ah, the price of loyalty."

"Hey," Jayne growled with a more than a bit of warning in his voice.

Niki raised her hands, surrendering. "Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to insult."

She turned back to the food and added a couple things before sliding the eggs onto two small plates. The plates made a metallic clatter as she dropped them on the table in front of Jayne and her empty chair. Jayne immediately started shovelling food into his mouth, mumbling words of appreciation around the mouthfuls. Niki picked at the eggs in front of her. Her mind was somewhere other than on the food in front of her. Telling Jayne about her past had made her mind focus on those details; she could see, hear, feel, taste and smell those memories like they were happening around her, especially the market where she had met Halo. The older woman had already been imposing at the age of twenty-two, but then, she had been on her own for much longer than Niki had and had had to learn how to take care of herself.

"Nik?"

She shook her head and gave Jayne a weak smile. "So, what can you tell me about this job we're helping with?"

Jayne stared at her for a moment, obviously having picked up on the subject change. He didn't say anything about it, however, just answered her question. "We're moving a lot of cargo for some ass who works for the Alliance and can't move it himself."

"Do you know what the cargo is?"

"No."

"You'll transport cargo without knowing what it is?"

"I don't know what it is; Mal does. I don't really care. As long as I get paid."

Niki made a mental note to ask Mal what exactly they were transporting and another note to not tell Halo they had taken a job without knowing what it was. "Where are we taking it?"

"A remote moon. Reserve." Jayne finished his food and pushed the plate towards the middle of the table. "If you want more details, ask the captain. I'm going to hit the rack."

Niki nodded and watched Jayne leave, her thoughts suddenly lurching back to her home, to what seemed a lifetime ago. Two lifetimes ago. She remembered climbing the big tree by the house as she watched her brothers pretending to shoot each other and she remembered as they got older how guns had started to appear and they'd shot at cans and the rat-like rodents that ran freely around the colony. She remembered when Jayne had shown up on the colony, a year older than Niki's oldest brother. He had joined in the shooting for sport and done better than both her brothers and their other friends. He had taught them how to be better. Niki had watched all that from the tree as well. She remembered making lunch for the boys through the years and playing hide and seek with them. She remembered listening to Jayne's stories about traveling around the colonies and thinking that was what she wanted to do when she was old enough. She remembered asking Jayne to take her with him when he left…

She dropped her head onto the table and sighed heavily, trying to rid herself of _those _thoughts.

What the hell was she doing here?

Trying to help Halo, that's what. Trying to make it so they could find the money and a place to settle down again. Trying to find a place and time where Niki could _not _travel the stars and the colonies. She wanted to stop flying through space, stop wondering where the next meal, next job, next _anything _was coming from.

After another few moments, Niki got to her feet and gathered up the plates. She washed them quickly, attempting to wash away the memories and the thoughts as she did so, and then turned and headed back towards the cargo bay and the small hallway where the passenger accommodations were located. The room she'd taken out of the two they'd been given was farthest from the hallway entrance, almost tucked in the corner. It was dimly lit, but comfortable. Niki dropped on the bed and a sigh involuntarily escaped her lips. It was a soft bed. She fell onto her side and closed her eyes.

She was asleep almost instantly.

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

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><p>Okay, aside from all the other crap going on in my life, this chapter took a while because I just don't know Niki that well and she didn't want to talk to me at first. And yes, I realize how weird that sounds; just for the record.<p>

Uhm… since we know nothing about Jayne's background, I kinda just made up something vague. It's not going to play a major role anyways, so it doesn't really matter. Agreed? Agreed.

Great, now I'm talking to myself.

Anyways, sorry the chapter is kinda short. I couldn't push it any farther. The next chapter is kind of a mirror to this one and they were both meant to just get inside the girls' heads before the plot progresses too far. Also, this chapter and the next chapter happen kind of at the same time. At least, this one falls in with the beginning of the next one.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Waking Up. <strong>


	5. Chapter Five: Waking Up

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Five: Waking Up.

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><p>When she woke up, Halo's head hurt and she was starving. It took her a moment to remember that she was in the companion's—Inara's—shuttle on <em>Serenity<em>, a moment where she just stared at the reds and golds around her and frowned and wondered why there was a bandage on her head; she didn't remember anything from after the bar, except for sitting and talking with Inara, and that was only flashes. When she was fully awake and felt capable of moving, Halo climbed off the couch and untangled herself from the blankets as quietly as she could. Inara was asleep on the bed across the room and Halo didn't want to wake her after she had been so nice to a relative stranger. She pulled her boots back on—she didn't remember taking them off—and left the shuttle, her coat draped over her arm.

On the catwalk outside the shuttle, Halo stopped and looked down at the cargo bay, trying to remember something, anything, about how she had ended up back on the ship. Obviously, someone had come and rescued her from the bar and the bar fight, but she didn't know who. Niki would have been there, but there was no way the smaller woman could have dragged Halo back to _Serenity. _They had tried that before with not-so-nice results. Niki had walked away from the encounter with two black eyes and a broken nose. Maybe she'd enlisted Jayne's help. He looked like he could handle drunk and violent Halo without much trouble.

In lieu of any actual memories, Halo contented herself with her explanation before turning on the catwalk and heading in a direction she thought would take her to the centre of the ship. Because of her oldest brother's interest in firefly-class vessels, Halo had a vague knowledge of the layout. It seemed logical to her that the centre of the ship would be where the food was kept; she may not have been able to remember much about the evening past, but she did know she was hungry. And that her head still hurt, but she would worry about that after getting some food in her stomach. Maybe food would even make her head stop hurting.

After several minutes of wandering, Halo did indeed find the kitchen in the centre of the ship. It was painted bright yellow and there were red flowers bordering all the entrances. Halo frowned, wondering who had decided that colour scheme was a good idea; it looked like something Niki would have chosen. It looked like something she _had _chosen. That thought made Halo frown harder, but she shook it off. Disregarding the similarity to that kitchen hundreds of thousands, maybe million millions of miles away and years in the past, Halo made for the cupboards across the room, mind totally set on the task of finding food; she didn't dwell in the past. The past wasn't going to help her get through tomorrow.

"What are you doing?"

Halo nearly screamed as she pulled herself back from the cupboard, a can of food in hand, raised to attack whoever had startled her. When her pale blue eyes found the captain of the ship, Mal, standing behind her, she dropped her hand and tried to look apologetic as her fingers relaxed. It wasn't one of her normal expressions. "I was just looking for something to eat."

"I gathered as much."

Her mouth twisted into another frown. She replaced the can on the shelf in the cupboard and crossed her arms over her chest. "I always get hungry after being doped and your doctor gave me some strong stuff," she said. For some reason, the look on Mal's face had compelled her to explain, even though he hadn't asked for one, or looked like he needed it. Maybe it was because she was his ship, working for him. "Didn't mean to break any of your rules."

Mal shrugged, hands coming to rest on his hips. "No harm. Want some pancakes? I couldn't sleep and thought a midnight snack might help."

The frown deepened, but Halo nodded. She gathered up her coat from the counter where it was draped and headed over to the long dining table with its mismatched chairs and sat down in the one closest to where Mal had begun to mix together ingredients. The back of the wooden chair scraped against the exposed top half of her back, so she moved her coat to cover the rough wood to make up for the low scoop her navy blue shirt had. Once she was comfortable, she sat for a few moments and just watched Mal cook, the frown still in place and her mind racing to try and make sense of the situation.

"Stop trying to figure things out," Mal said suddenly. "I'm a pretty nice guy once you get to know me."

Halo quirked an eyebrow. "I never thought you were an ass, but you're being awfully nice to someone you just picked up at a port known for its smugglers and criminals."

Mal shrugged and flipped a couple of the pancakes. A strand of his brown hair fell into his eyes and he casually flicked it away with the back of his wrist. "We've all done our share of smuggling aboard this boat and sometimes worse." The smile he gave her was easy and friendly. "Besides, I don't think your friend Niki could lie her way out of a paper bag and she swore up and down the two of you would be useful."

"Well you're right about that—she's a terrible liar."

Mal laughed a bit and flipped the pancakes. "You two seem like an odd pair, if you don't mind."

Halo shrugged with one shoulder. "It's a bond formed of necessity," she said. Again, she felt compelled to explain the situation, but she pressed her lips together and did not, even though Mal was giving her a prying look. "I should thank you for letting Niki and I come on your boat when we have no way to pay you except with work."

"Purely selfish," Mal said, gesturing with the spatula. "We have a lot of cargo to move and we could use two more guns."

The reasoning was sound to Halo. She still felt like she needed to explain things to Mal, to tell him about herself and Niki, the strangers he had brought into his home. It was probably because she knew they were going to be here for a while. She hadn't stayed in any place longer than maybe a week, and that was pushing it. Her pale blue eyes had drifted to the worn table top in front of her; she began to pick at a splinter with her fingernail. Halo stopped when she felt Mal's eyes on the side of her head.

"What's got you so twisted up?" he asked.

He really sounded like he wanted to know. "The idea of staying in one place for a while, if I'm being honest."

Mal nodded like he understood as he slid the pancakes onto a couple plates. He sat down and handed one plate to Halo. "Why do you think I spend day in and out on my boat?"

Halo made a noise of agreement. She took a bite of the pancake; there were bits of some dried fruit in it and it was quite good. "You still have a place to call home, a place to come back to," Halo said, her voice tinged with a longing she hadn't even realized she felt.

"You miss it."

It wasn't a question, so Halo didn't say anything. She turned her attention full-force to the pancakes in front of her and ate methodically until they were gone. Mal didn't push her for any more conversation and for that she was glad, but when he had finished eating and the plates were away, she asked if he could show her where she would be sleeping. The captain agreed and started walking through the dim corridors, Halo a step behind.

The guest quarters were located at the back of the ship on the lowest habitable level, and they were all the same warm orangeish tone when the lights were on. When the lights were out, the area was pitch black. It was exactly what Halo needed to sleep. She thanked Mal and watched him leave before she entered the square room that was to be hers; she could hear Niki snoring softly in the room beside hers and Mal had said the other three rooms she could see were taken up by the doctor, Simon, his sister and a Shepherd named Book. Everyone else was asleep. Halo grabbed the large black t-shirt and blue shorts that made up her pyjamas and proceeded into the bathroom at the end of the short hallway.

After some fumbling, she figured the shower out and washed quickly, not wanting to waste any of the water on the ship. Dried and changed, she braided her long hair, the resulting tail hanging well passed her shoulder blades, and then she returned to her room where she contemplated sleeping. The bed looked comfortable and her body ached for rest, but she had just awoken from her drug-induced slumber about an hour ago and she had slept for a good six hours, judging by the clock in Inara's shuttle. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep now.

So she headed back into the ship proper sans any sort of footwear and found her way to the deserted cockpit; the ship was drifting on autopilot and the only noise was a faint whirring from the distant engines. The controls sat raised from a storage area and one of the panels was covered with dinosaur toys, but the window was large and presented a seemingly endless field of stars. That was what she wanted.

Halo settled herself on the cold metal floor at the top of the steps leading down and stared out at the Verse, her thoughts drifting unbidden back to her childhood home on Beaumonde, the place she'd lived before her parents had decided it was a good idea to up and move around the outer planets, to join in the settlement efforts. Halo hadn't wanted to go, but what choice did she have? She'd been all of five, her brothers four years older progressively, the oldest nine. None of them had wanted to go, but their parents had it in their head that time away from civilization would be a good thing, so they'd packed up their young family and headed for the nearest shuttle out to the black. Halo remembered crying whenever her parents decided to pay attention to her, but it hadn't changed anything. They just kept moving around the dusty, barren planets, looking for some place to settle until suddenly, there was no more family, it was just Halo.

The years drifting through the Verse had hardened her, but Halo realized with a painful jolt that she still wanted to go back to Beaumonde, that she wanted to see the lights of the city and hear the noises that you could only here there again. She wanted to go to the open markets where all manner of things were sold and she wanted to hang out by the ports and watch weird and exotic ships roll into town, full of new people and new things. Her brothers all yelling about the ships until their voices just blending into one. Her oldest brother, Casey, sweeping her onto his shoulders so she could see above the crowd.

Stubbornly, Halo rubbed at her eyes, not letting the tears that wanted to fall do so. She would not cry.

"You've got to get away Sera," her oldest brother had told her when they'd heard the screams that meant Reavers.

Sera was the name her parents had given her. Casey had called her Sera-Star. "But I don't want to go by myself," she sobbed. Her little hands clutched at his pant leg, at the belt holding his knife sheath. "I'll get lost! I won't be able to find you!"

The look her brother had given her was strange; sad and angry at the same time. He crouched down and put his face close to hers, the tips of their noses rubbing as tears slid down her red cheeks. "Sera-Star, you've got to run." Casey's voice had gone quiet and something inside her said she was never going to see him again. "You've got to get safe."

She threw her short arms around Casey's neck and hugged him as tight as she could. "Don't leave," she begged.

He'd hugged her back, but suddenly he shoved her away, screaming at her to run. Dark men had appeared then, dark men with bloody, twisted faces and she'd screamed. Casey was yelling "Run Sera, run!" and the scary men were howling wordlessly, noises that terrified the little girl. Finally, she'd started running, going as fast as she could. The dark men closed on Casey, who fought with everything he had, but as she watched from the trees, she saw him lose, saw the men with the bloody faces start to do things to her brother's body that didn't make any sense.

She'd turned and run. She'd run until her feet her cracked and bloody and a few of her toes were broken. She'd run until she couldn't even see the smoke from the remains of the settlement, and then she ran farther, trying to outrun the image of her brother's murder that was emblazoned on the inside of her eyelids. Eventually, she collapsed and cried herself unconscious and when she'd awoken, she was in the back of a small transport vessel with a young boy pouring water past her lips.

Back on _Serenity_, Halo shook her head. She didn't want to think of anything out of the past. She didn't dwell in the past. She had successfully rid herself of everything except that one memory that found its way back into her mind whenever she didn't want it most.

"You're ain't supposed to be up here."

Halo turned, the knife concealed in her braid leaping into hand almost of its own accord. She almost brought it down on one of the feet that were behind her, but she hesitated, just as she had with Mal and the can of food; a big hand wrapped around her wrist, effectively stopping the would-be attack. A scowl taking the place of whatever grief had been on her face, Halo's icy blue eyes followed the feet and the hand to find Jayne, staring at her from way too close, body hunched so he could stop the attack. He easily pulled her to her feet and wrenched the knife from her grasp.

"People have got to stop sneaking up on me," Halo snarled. "Someone is going to get hurt."

Jayne looked at the long, thin knife, studied it as he twirled it expertly around his fingers. "Doubt it."

Halo's scowl deepened into a growl and she extended her hand. "Give me my knife back."

"Where'd you pull it from?"

The woman pulled her braid over her shoulder and showed him the slender sheath worked into the weave of the hair. The look on Jayne's face was mildly impressed as he handed her the blade back, hilt-first. Halo slid it back into place and then put her hands on her hips. "Now what do you want?" she snapped.

"Like I said, you ain't supposed to be on the bridge."

Halo scoffed and attempted to push past the big man to get to the corridor, but he didn't budge. He was half again as big as the woman trying to move him, so that wasn't surprising, but it didn't stop her from glaring up at him. "Move."

"What were you doing up here?"

She realized that he suspected her of sabotage or something equally sinister, and why not? Halo dropped her hands and what she could of her surly attitude; she was going to try and solve this without a fight, which was unlike her. Her head was hurting again and now she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. "Look, I wasn't doing anything wrong." Her blue eyes narrowed when she saw that Jayne didn't believe her. "This is the only place on the ship you can see the stars from."

The explanation seemed to baffle Jayne a bit. Halo understood. Why would anyone want to sit and look at the stars when all they did was travel around space? Instead of trying to explain, she stepped beyond him, through the space he'd made, and started towards the hall. Bed and dreams of her long-dead brother were calling.

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

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><p>Every time I type "catwalk," all I can think about is that song "Too Sexy" or whatever it's called. "And I do my little turn on the catwalk." Clearly, my mind is polluted with random pop-culture references. Or maybe my brain is just screwy. Either or.<p>

And the similarities between this chapter and the last were intentional. I think I said as much in the last chapter's author's note, but I'm just reiterating. There is a point to the similarities. I'm not going to explain it because it doesn't become obvious until later on. If you wanna know, send me a PM and I'll get back to you about that. Or ask a question in your review and I'll reply. Promise.

FYI, I love the soundtrack from the show. It's so beautiful.

I'm gonna watch the show again. Starting as soon as this is posted.

Question: how many crew bedrooms are there on _Serenity_? Everywhere I can find a number, it says five, but I only count four in the show. I mean, logically there would be five rooms because Zoe and Wash weren't always together, but I want to know if that's the correct number. If anyone knows, please tell me, thanks. Also, I think there is space for all the passengers, but again I'm not really sure.

Anyways, enjoy.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: A Strange Encounter. <strong>


	6. Chapter Six: A Strange Encounter

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Six: A Strange Encounter.

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><p>Halo's bare feet made almost no noise on the metal floors as she walked briskly back towards her room, which was perhaps why the noise of Jayne's boots sounded loud enough to wake the dead. Or just everyone else on the ship. Why Jayne was following her, she wasn't sure, but it probably had something to do with her being on the bridge when she wasn't supposed to be. She didn't really care in any case, the noise was just annoying and she was finding the corridors of the ship quite cold in just her t-shirt and shorts. All she wanted to do was go to bed, get warm and hope that the headache building behind her eyes would go away of its own accord. She wanted to go to bed and hope the dreams about her brother were good and didn't bring any more thoughts about her past to the forefront.<p>

However, by the time the two person parade had reached the cargo bay, Halo's jaw was clenched and she was firing on all cylinders, infuriated by the constant noise and looking for a fight, thoughts of bed and warmth gone far from her mind.

"Why the fuck are you following me?" she barked, her voice bouncing around the large room. She had forgotten the possibility of waking the other people on_ Serenity _up; she didn't care if they heard her screaming. "Do you think I'm going to try and steal the ship or something? That I was hanging out on the bridge trying to send out your location?" When she didn't get an answer from the big man, she narrowed her icy blue eyes farther, teeth grinding together with an almost audible noise. She took a few steps towards Jayne, knowing full well that if it came to blows, she would lose, but all that grief had been channelled into rage, into something she knew how to control and something she could use to prevent herself from going back to her room and crying.

Jayne frowned down at her; he had almost a full foot of height on Halo. "It's happened before, girly, and I ain't going to let you pull the same shit that happens whenever we have extra passengers on this boat." Jayne's voice has dropped into a growl and his shoulders were hunched slightly, preparing for the attack he could see in Halo's posture.

Halo straightened her back, her hands balled into fists at her sides. As she ground her teeth together more vigorously, she took another step forward and jabbed her finger into Jayne's chest. "I don't give a shit what's happened on this ship in the past. All I care about is getting somewhere where I can live away from the Reavers, somewhere I can find peace, and the only way I can do that is on this boat, so I'm not going to screw it up!" She pulled her hand back to punctuate his chest again, but he grabbed her wrist and shoved backwards, his superior strength forcing her to comply with the movement lest she wanted to have her wrist broken. Halo wanted to scream at him, or slam the door of her bunk in his face, but she settled a snarl. "And I'd watch who you call 'girly' _Jayne_."

It took a second, but Jayne got the insult. He growled and closed the distance that had opened up between them, his eyes turning almost black with anger. "I ain't no girl."

Halo rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her chest. "Obviously, genius. Although, I am wondering why your parents gave you a girl's name… Were they trying to say something about you? Or did they just want a daughter that badly?"

Upon reflection, Halo wouldn't be able to share exactly why she thought provoking Jayne would be a good idea or why she did it in the first place, other than she was angry and he was there to take it out on. Regardless of her undetermined motives, Halo was ready for the punch. She ducked underneath his arm and stepped behind him, throwing her hand, fingers stiffened into a point, into the flesh under his ribs as she moved. He grunted in pain, but other than that, he seemed largely unaffected by the jab. Halo jumped out of the way, but not quite as quickly as she needed to; Jayne's hand closed around her braid and sent her spinning into the wall of the cargo bay. She howled in pain, threw a kick that went wide in response and took a blow to the side that drove her to her knees, the wind gone from her lungs: a sensation that she had to find the will to get over to avoid being kicked in the gut.

As she got to her feet, she noticed that there was a large handgun in a holster on Jayne's thigh and a thread of real fear worked its way into her chest. It passed quickly however because she knew Jayne would prefer to beat her up rather than shoot her at this juncture; they were the same that way. She threw another kick, this one better aimed, and it connected solidly with the same side she'd jammed her fingers into, causing visibly more damage than the jab alone. Instead of blocking the attack however, Jayne stepped into the assault and, moving faster than Halo would have thought him capable of, landed a punch on her jaw hard enough to daze and disorient her; the wild punches she threw in response were easily brushed aside.

When she finally shook the cobwebs from her brain, Jayne was still as close as he had been before. He was waiting for her to attack again. Halo gave him the best smile she could muster through the bloody spit in her mouth and lunged. She actually managed to land a few quick shots to his face, but because of the hits she had taken, they did less damage than she would have liked. It was easy for Jayne to shove her backwards and toppling to the floor.

Frustrated, Jayne grabbed the front of her t-shirt and hauled her off her feet, her bare toes barely brushing the metal floor and the bare skin of her now-exposed stomach prickling with goose bumps.

"I ain't weak," he growled, tightening his grip on her shirt until the collar began to twist around her neck.

"Did I say you were?" she asked, smiling down at Jayne, even as her cheeks began to darken from lack of air. Halo gave a little wheezing laugh before she began to feebly beat at his hand on the front of her shirt.

The moment Jayne started to loosen his grip however, she threw her feet into his abdomen and hit the deck hard when he dropped her. She rolled quickly into a crouch, one hand on the floor to brace the position and fighting not to cough too violently; her eyes lifted to look at Jayne, who was glaring at her, one hand on the big hunting knife at his belt and the other hovering around the butt of his gun.

"I thought this was a fight-fight, not a knife-fight or a gun-fight. If you want to go that way, just let me go get my weapons," Halo gasped.

She coughed violently once to clear her throat as she stood up, trying to look confident. The wavering kind of diminished the effect, but she pretended she didn't notice. She wasn't that far away from Jayne, and the weapons were a little alarming, though she would never admit that. It hadn't been much of a fight, but it had been enough to knock most of the rage out of her, and she hadn't really wanted to hurt Jayne, not seriously. She was grateful to be on _Serenity, _grateful that Mal had taken her and Niki in when they couldn't pay right away, when all they had was work to give, and she knew any sort of behaviour that Mal didn't like would likely get her thrown out at the next port.

"You're not going to kill me Jayne," she said when he gave her a funny look. "So let go of your weapons."

After a moment, he did just that, but Halo could still see the tension in his shoulders, face and hands. He still wanted to fight; he didn't seem like the kind of man who gave up on anything. Indeed, his hands flexed in and out of fists and the muscles in his jaw bunched, but he managed to not continue the assault he had clearly been winning. "Why did you pick our boat anyway?" he asked, some of the tension easing from him as the focus shifted away from the fight. "All them other boats on Persephone and you pick an old firefly full of criminals?"

Halo shrugged and feeling the danger was largely gone, put her hands on her hips and tried to let go of the rest of her anger, tried to breathe through the pain that was beginning to blossom across her body. "It wasn't the ship, although I was interested in it. Niki saw you and I didn't have a choice. That girl is greedy for anything from her past and especially for you, if I'm to take any stock in the stories she told about you." She shook her head slightly. "I'm not going to pull any shit, Jayne," she said again, this time with sincerity the prominent feature in her voice. "It was real good of Mal to let us come on board with just our skills to pay, and I'm not going to throw that away."

Jayne didn't say anything; just stood there and watched her. Halo got the feeling that Jayne wasn't overly concerned with the state of the ship itself, but with that state of the crew… Well, that seemed to be the hot-button. Halo briefly wondered what had brought a man like Jayne, someone who had more than likely been a mercenary, to become so loyal to a ragtag crew like that of the _Serenity_. It couldn't have been money because there obviously wasn't a lot of that kicking around the ship, but she knew it was none of her business to ask, so she didn't. All she did in that moment was return his gaze, head tilted slightly to one side and waited for him to say something because she did not want to turn her back on Jayne, strong and violent as he was, although she did want to get to bed.

"What stories did Nik tell?" he asked.

Halo could have laughed. It was such an unexpected question after trading blows. "Stories about how you and her brothers used to pretend to be mercenaries or soldiers or something, stories about wanting to go with you when you left, stories about what you meant to her and how she felt about you." She shrugged and waved one hand casually, stopping the motion short when it hurt. "It's not important." Halo dropped onto a nearby crate, one hand pressed to her ribs. "You landed a good blow," she breathed.

"You're no bad fighter yourself, from what I saw here and at that bar. Mal might not have been so crazy to take you on as a gun."

"You can thank my dead brothers for that and my marksmanship." She settled back, her shoulders banging against the metal walls, the noise reverberating slightly. Halo winced when something in her side pulled. "Maybe I should see the doctor in the morning and make sure you didn't break any of my ribs or anything." Halo knew the slight nod she got from Jayne was all the apology she was going to get, not that she was really looking for one.

"How well can you shoot?" Jayne asked, sounding quite interested in the answer.

Halo was a little tossed by the subject change, but she was okay talking shop with someone who constantly carried a small army's worth of weapons with him. "Probably not as good as you can, but I can shoot anything that fires a bullet with a fairly high degree of accuracy." She nodded towards the gun on his hip. "That looks like a nice piece."

"What's all the chatter down here?" a voice suddenly asked from the catwalk above them. "I can hear you two all the way in my bunk!"

Halo looked up and saw the young woman who had been looking for passengers back on Persephone glaring down at her and Jayne. The glare wasn't as sinister as it would have been had it been coming from someone else, but she was still making her point. She was wearing a loose pair of pants and a tank top—pyjamas—and her light brown hair was a fluffy mess sticking up around her head. Her hands gripped the railing of the catwalk tightly.

"I was having such a nice dream too…" She walked along the catwalk to the stairs and descended down to stand beside Halo, regarding her with a curious glint in her eye. "Why ain't you asleep? You took some nasty hits when you was brought back from that bar," she added with a pointed look at Jayne, who shrugged. The young woman's fingers gently brushed along the bandage that was covering the gash on Halo's forehead. "You can't be feelin' too well."

"I was on my way to my bunk to get some shuteye and I got… distracted." Halo winced and the woman suddenly became very concerned, even though Halo kept batting her hands away from her side. "I'm fine," she insisted. The woman just wanted to help, but Halo was feeling rather crowded.

"You sure? You don't look so shiny."

"Just need some rest," Halo assured her. To make her point, the bruised woman got to her feet and turned slightly towards the passenger bunks. "Sorry for waking you up…"

"Kaylee. My name's Kaylee. I'm the ship's mechanic, and there's no worries Halo," she added with a bright smile.

Halo felt one corner of her mouth lift in something similar to a smile; something about Kaylee made it hard _not _to smile and Halo would have bet everything she owned that it was Kaylee who had painted the kitchen yellow. The aforementioned and unlikely ship's mechanic kept smiling and said good night before heading back to her room to get the most out of what remained of the night, leaving Halo and Jayne alone in the cargo bay once again.

"How long until we reach the drop point for this cargo?" Halo asked.

"Midday or thereabouts."

"Right." Halo turned towards Jayne and ran one hand back through her bangs that had come loose from the braid in the short brawl. He was closer than he had been, by nature of walking towards the conversation that had been going on. "You ever spar?" she asked suddenly. It would be good to have someone to beat up on a regular basis, what with Halo being unsure about so many things currently, the least of which being the nagging thoughts about Beaumonde and her childhood. If she was right about Jayne, he would want someone to beat up too.

"Sure, if there's someone worthy about." The barest hint of a smirk worked its way across Jayne's face as he looked down at Halo, who was still holding her side and grimacing slightly. "Maybe once you're healed up we'll have another go."

Halo took a half-step closer to Jayne and returned the minute smirk before turning on her bare feet again and heading down the small corridor towards her bunk, thinking of how the last thirty minutes or so had been rather weird, even for a woman who spent her days bumming her way around the Verse.

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

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><p>This chapter was hard to start because I knew the whole thing was going to be hard to write. I've never written a fic with characters who, by their very natures, could have relationship things happen so quickly. If that makes sense at all. Most canon characters I make up characters for aren't quite so… Jayne-like, lol, except for Captain Kirk, but Captain Kirk is a little more reserved than Jayne. I'm kind of rambling now, but that's just because I'm a little nervous about this chapter. I've never written a chapter like this one before. Hopefully you guys all get what I was going for…<p>

Anyways, I love this story, but it's hard to write unless I'm watching Firefly, Serenity, or listening to the soundtracks. At least, that's what I'm discovering, especially after this chapter. But whatever. It's going to get finished because I love it so much and because there are some people who enjoy reading it. What am I saying? I just want to write Halo. She's fun.

There Matt, Kaylee. I hope I wrote her well enough for you, even though it was just a small appearance.

For the record, I know not all the characters have made an appearance yet, but that's because Halo and Niki have only been on the ship for somewhere between 24 and 48 hours. The pace will pick up soon, but the first chapters are just about getting Halo and Niki established on the ship and whatnot and the others will appear more after that happens, a.k.a. the next chapter.

I just had a thought—this chapter might have been more difficult to write because the plan changed halfway through. Huh. And no, you can't know what the original plan was, just that it involved some… actions that would have been more feasible if I had written the other chapters a little differently. I was going to write them anyway, but it would have been a bad idea since this is fanfiction and not an original story. Ah, hindsight.

The end part was hard to write.

Hopefully you enjoy this one since it gave me so much trouble.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Drop Point.<strong>


	7. Chapter Seven: Drop Point

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Seven: Drop Point.

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><p>"What in God's name happened to you two? Did you go a few rounds with an angry bear?"<p>

Halo looked at the man who had spoken. He was tallish, with orange hair and friendly eyes above an obnoxiously flowered shirt; she hadn't seen him before, but she would hazard a guess and say he was the pilot. Process of elimination and all that. Regardless of the man's position aboard _Serenity _or Halo's lack of familiarity with him, his question was in reference to the pair of dark bruises that had erupted along the left side of Halo's jaw and around Jayne's right eye. Halo knew from looking in the mirror that morning that the bruises on her jaw were spaced and shaped like the first two knuckles of a fist. It wouldn't be too difficult for someone to make the connection to Jayne's black eye.

At the man's comment, the faces of the other seven people at the table turned towards the end where Halo and Jayne were seated; Hal had the very strong urge to stick her face into the protein she was eating, but instead kept her head up and eyes forward and jabbed her fork into another chunk of the greyish mush. She didn't get embarrassed often or easily, but seven pairs of eyes staring was a lot for anyone to take.

"Looks to me like it was an angry Jayne, Wash," Mal said, a small smile tugging at one side of his mouth as he chewed and looked to Jayne's wound.

Strangely—or not so strangely, depending on how she looked at it—no one seemed overly surprised at the news of Jayne getting in a fight. In fact, a couple of them were looking at Halo, apparently surprised that she had managed to land a solid enough hit on Jayne's face to leave a mark, or maybe surprised at the fact that she had started the fight in the first place.

Halo shrugged, attempting to get into the moment and passed the bit of embarrassment. "He told me I was acting suspicious," she informed them all casually. "So I hit him."

"Huh. Usually it's Jayne who throws the first punch."

Halo smiled around her mouthful of food and thought about telling them that he _had _thrown the first punch, but decided against it. She had provoked him into it and Jayne wasn't making any moves to take the credit for himself either.

Before either one of them could say anything else on the topic however, the conversation turned to the mission at hand. The ship was currently en route to Reserve, the remote moon where the exchange was going to take place. Once _Serenity _was in orbit, the crew would split into the two shuttles and take the cargo down to the designated meeting spot, where the buyers would be waiting for the money. When the shuttles were safely away, Wash would land the ship far away from the meeting point and wait for the exchange to finish. The plan was for Mal, Jayne and Halo to head down in one shuttle, while Niki, Zoe and Simon went in the other; the last had been chosen because even though he wasn't overly familiar with a weapon, he could use one should the need arise and if anyone got hurt, a doctor might come in handy. Mal and Zoe would handle the actual talking while the others maintained guns on the buyers, just in case they tried anything funny. When the exchange had been completed, the crew, Niki and Halo wouldn't return to _Serenity._

It was a solid plan, but the crew were prepared for something to go wrong. From the stories the crew shared, more than once, they had had something go wrong on a job and none of them were eager for a repeat.

When the plans and breakfast were finished, Halo got to her feet and headed for her quarters to get her weapons and make sure she was ready to go. Mal hadn't allowed the women to have their weapons with them when they'd boarded the ship, not until that morning. Halo knew it was a good practice to maintain, but she hadn't liked it, which was why had had snuck the knife in her hair. Niki followed closely behind and Halo could feel her eyes boring into her back the whole way. In the relative privacy of her room, Halo wheeled around and narrowed her icy eyes at her friend.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked, voice perhaps a little shorter than it should have been.

"You got in a fight with Jayne?" Niki's face and voice showed the concern she obviously was feeling. Whether that concern was for Halo, Jayne or, mostly likely of all, their position on the ship, Halo couldn't be sure.

"Yeah? So what? Are you that surprised?" Halo picked up her bag and started digging through it, looking for her thigh holster for her shotgun.

"Not by the fact that you were in a fight, Halo, but by the fact that you were stupid enough to get in a fight that might get us kicked off this ship, yeah I'm _very _surprised! You're smarter than that and I would have thought you want to be here more than I do!" Niki's face had gone a little red and her eyes were shimmering like she was about to cry. While her and Halo fought a lot, Niki had never done well confronting Halo.

Halo bared her teeth. "Oh yeah, I'm that stupid," she snapped sarcastically.

"Well you're acting like a fool!" Niki took a step closer to the older woman, her brown eyes bright behind the unshed tears. "We were lucky enough to get on this ship without paying anything and you're going to screw up because you can't behave like a normal, civilized person!"

Halo's icy blue eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin, white line. Many insults and attacks raced through her head, but she stopped herself. Hurting Niki wouldn't accomplish anything and besides, her fears were genuine, even if the fight hadn't really amounted to anything. "Go get ready," she said eventually, voice careful. "We have a job to do so we can keep our spots on this ship." She turned her back on Niki and started digging through her bag again, hoping she would just leave.

"If you keep going on like this, you'll either get yourself hurt or both of us abandoned on some backwater planet and then we'll never find a home."

When she heard Niki leave the room and shut the sliding door a moment later, Halo dropped the belt she had been holding and sighed heavily, closing her eyes and turning her face up to the ceiling. The short bought with Niki had made her feel worn out, had brought all her exhaustion back. After a moment of deep and controlled breathing, however, she felt a little better; more focused, definitely. With that measure of calm returned, Halo resumed digging through her bag and retrieved the belts she would need to hold her usual assortment of weapons; as she hadn't been able to have her weapons since boarding the ship, and it felt rather good to have them back. She belted the holster for her knife and shotgun in place and then slung her dual shoulder holster over her arms. Once that was done, she slid her handguns in place under either arm, dropped her shogun into its holster and sheathed the long knife into place at the back of her belt; almost as an afterthought, she pulled a second knife from her bag and slid it into the side of her knee-high boot. Her hair was back up in its complicated knot, a style that left no room for the thin blade from her braid. Armed and ready, Halo pulled on a black leather duster that hid her weapons quite well and left the room, felling much more like herself than she had for a while.

Out in the cargo bay, Mal, Zoe and Jayne were waiting for the other three to join them. Halo stood beside Jayne, hands on her hips and looked towards Mal.

"Are we going to have a problem with you and your sister? Sounded like she had a bit of a problem with you and Jayne expressing yourselves all over each other's faces." The captain gave her the ghost of a smile, like he found the whole thing rather amusing.

"Niki has a problem with a lot of things I do, but her particular feelings won't get in the way of anything." Halo looked at the stacks of silver crates, all locked and mysterious, sitting behind Mal and Zoe and gestured by tilting her head towards the shuttles. "Should we take those up to the shuttles?" she asked. Thinking about having a job to do had filled her with a sort of energy that left her not wanting to stand still for too long. That thinking about the job helped keep her calm didn't hurt, either.

Mal nodded and the four of them started carrying the crates to the shuttles, dividing the cargo equally between the two smaller vehicles. Halo was surprised to find that the crates weren't that heavy and that they didn't make any noise when moved, meaning the cargo wasn't loose. She couldn't help but wonder what was in the crates, but it wasn't her place to ask. Besides, they were just delivering it. Soon, it would be out of the ship and they would leave it behind. It wouldn't matter anymore and she wouldn't have to think about the contents. However, she didn't think it was anything dangerous. Illegal maybe, but not dangerous.

After the cargo was loaded and Simon and Niki had joined them, they piled into the shuttles—Mal, Jayne and Halo were in Inara's shuttle—and departed from _Serenity_. Reserve turned out to be a sandy, rocky moon with a few patches of green that signified terraforming efforts, and even one spot that looked like it might be a city or large settlement of some kind.

"I don't see anyone else," Halo said as she peered out the window.

"I've got them on the scanner." Mal pressed a couple buttons and the ship started to descend towards a flat spot on the ground. "They're on their way, coming from the direction of that settlement."

Standing behind the pilot's chair with his arms crossed over his chest, Jayne grunted. "They'd better not be up to something. We ain't worked with them before, Mal. How do you know you can trust 'em?"

"I don't, Jayne, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here. They came as a highly recommended buyer."

Jayne scoffed but said nothing else, leading Halo to believe that the matter was settled, at least for the time being. She didn't have any doubt that he would be the first to act if one of the buyers made the slightest negative move. As she thought about the possibility, Halo checked her weapons in their holsters before she went back to peering out the front window.

The shuttle landed with a soft thud on the ground and the other one did the same a second later. The six crew members gathered a few metres away from their vehicles, Jayne bringing one box of the cargo with him, to show to the buyers. They were only waiting a moment before three heavily tarnished shuttles that may have been silver at one point in their lives appeared and set down a ways away, closer to the edge of the outcropping. The amount of burly, well-armed men who emerged from those shuttles was alarming; they easily doubled the six from the _Serenity. _

"Shit," Halo breathed. "That's a lot of men with guns."

"Agreed," Zoe replied.

The two war veterans walked into the middle of the field, Mal taking the crate from Jayne as he passed the big man. Taking their cues from said big man, Niki, Halo, Jayne half-raised their guns, preparing for whatever could possibly happen next; several of the men on the buyer's side did the same thing. Five of them walked to meet Mal and Zoe. Everyone was wearing the same, suspicious look on their face and the air had become quite tense. Halo hadn't worked many jobs like this, but she gathered the tension was because both parties had never worked with one another before and neither knew what to expect.

The actually meeting took place too far away for Halo to hear the words that were exchanged, but the tension did not lessen as Mal and the apparent leader discussed the cargo; she could see it in his shoulders and the way Zoe's hand kept fluttering near her shotgun. She did however, see when the crate was opened and the buyer crouched to observe its contents. He raised one brick of what looked like food supplements or maybe they contained medical supplies—regardless, he looked satisfied as he replaced the small box and rose to his feet again. Mal gestured and Simon, Niki and Halo set about pulling the other crates out of the shuttles to where they could be reached without much effort and without the buyer's men entering the shuttles; Jayne's gun remained poised to attack. Once all the crates were out, the buyer handed Mal the sack full of money which Mal checked quickly and then he and Zoe turned, trusting the guns to keep their backs guarded as they returned to the shuttles.

"Well," Mal said once everyone was back on board their shuttle. "That went swimmingly."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

* * *

><p>So I read somewhere that they're making a movie that will take place in the Firefly-verse, but not be about the crew of <em>Serenity<em>. It'll be a prologue about a guy on a mining vessel who goes in search of other inhabitable planets when war breaks out on Earth and things start to go all to shit. Like a prequel. I think it has the potential to be an good movie, but I'm bummed that while more money is getting pumped into the universe of Firefly, it's not about the crew of _Serenity_, who everyone knows and loves. There's so much more to be told about them. But I don't know if this is true or not. I just saw something about it somewhere. Huh.

Also, I think I have managed to get a summer cold, because I feel like crap. Fun times. You know what makes me feel better when I'm sick? Hot chocolate or tea and Harry Potter. Yeah. I've been watching the Harry Potter movies AGAIN today, while I alternate writing and staring blankly at the screen while my head screams: "UGGGGH I'M FULL OF SNOT WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO BED?" To which, I respond, "Because I slept until noon." I hate sleeping until noon. I always feel like I've wasted the day.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter. There's still a ways to go in this fic. 16 more planned chapters and I'm doing my darndest to stick to that number. I do have a bad habit of moving this around, but we'll see how it goes.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Something Wicked.<strong>


	8. Chapter Eight: Something Wicked

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

* * *

><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Eight: Something Wicked.

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><p>The crewmembers from <em>Serenity<em> unloaded the rest of the cargo in relative silence; the only words spoken came from Mal's mouth as he directed the placement of the crates. They were going to leave the rest of the cargo on the surface of the planet in a specific location, and then fly away, money in hand, back to the safety of the firefly-class vessel in orbit, thus removing any threat to the people coming to pick up the cargo. Once there, Mal would split the payment amongst the crew members. What came next, Halo and Niki weren't sure, but they were both eager to find out, if for different reasons.

Currently, Halo was lugging another crate across the dusty ground, sweat beading on her brow and running down her back underneath her leather coat. It wasn't particularly hot on Reserve, but the crates of medical supplies or food supplement or whatever was inside, were heavier than she'd first thought—nothing impossible to move by any stretch of the imagination, but if she wasn't careful, she might pull something. She dropped the crate on top of the others and then marched back to the shuttle to grab another one, her injuries from the fight with Jayne beginning to throb. As she rolled her neck, Halo caught Niki looking at her with fire in her eyes; for some reason, the younger woman was still mad at Halo and Halo had no idea why.

When Halo returned to the shuttle after taking another crate, she found the rest had all been taken, and the shuttle was looking mighty empty. So, grateful that the massive pile of silver boxes was done with, she dropped into an empty chair and leaned her head back, eyes open and staring at the ceiling as she waited for the crew to return to their assigned shuttles. Jayne appeared in her vision, an odd expression on his gruff face, one she couldn't quite make out from the bizarre angle she was keeping herself at.

"What?" she snapped, not bothering to move.

"Do you know what's wrong with Nik?"

"No clue," Halo mumbled. "Why do you care?"

Instead of answering, Jayne just walked away, grumbling something under his breath.

Halo grumbled to herself for a moment about big, stupid, apes of men, and then sat up and crossed her arms while she waited for the rest of the crew to reassemble on the shuttle. Something _was _wrong with Niki, and Halo wasn't really sure what had started it. Niki had been short with her after finding out about the fight with Jayne, but she'd said it was because she was afraid Halo would get them kicked off _Serenity_. It was possible Niki had been lying, but Halo would have caught that. Unless it had just been a half truth. Niki hadn't been the same since they'd taken up residence on the firefly-class vessel and Halo had no idea what to do about it. Halo closed her eyes. There was a deep conversation with Niki on the horizon, and she was not looking forward to it. Their deep conversations usually turned into heated arguments, and they had all been about something that should have been easily resolved.

A few moments after that revelation, Mal led the rest of the members of the landing party back into the tiny shuttle, and they were flying through the atmosphere, the second shuttle behind and slightly to one side of them. Soon enough, they were surrounded by blackness and stars and the somewhat-battered _Serenity_ was floating nearby. Both shuttles were piloted back into their docking stations and the crew was piling back onto the main ship, voices full of relief that the job was done and the money was in their hands. There would be fuel, fresh food and water and supplies, just as soon as they reached the next port.

As Halo was thinking about what exactly she was going to do about Niki, and what they were going to do once _Serenity _reached whichever port was closest, Simon's sister River, a strange girl, walked up to Halo and inserted herself in the older woman's personal space. River's hands were clasped behind her back and she was balanced on her toes, her brown eyes wide and clear and penetrating.

"You are lost," she said in her airy voice.

Halo gave an involuntary flinch. "No I'm not. I'm in the cargo bay. I know I'm in the cargo bay."

"But you are still lost. You do not know which way is right."

Halo blinked a few times, trying to find her way through the crazy-talk. She shook her head. River had probably picked up on Halo's inner turmoil: if she wanted to keep gallivanting around the stars, or if she wanted a stable home with Niki again. Damn, the girl was perceptive. Halo hadn't had any in-depth conversations with the young woman. When she opened her mouth to say something however, River had walked away, headed towards her room, a slight skip in her step.

Halo shook her head and made for the kitchen, looking for Mal. She had some questions to ask.

She found the captain not in the kitchen, but on the bridge, hovering behind Wash as they discussed which port would be the closest and safest for the ship to refuel and resupply at. Halo took up a post, leaning on the doorframe, waiting.

"Ah, Halo, you did good work," Mal said upon noticing her.

"Everyone behaved, so it was simple. You guys ever pick up any, more interesting jobs?"

Mal gave her a grin that told her yes, they did, and quite often, and Halo found herself returning it. "You and Niki off at the next port?" he asked.

Surprised it was a question, Halo shrugged. "If you want us off. I'm game for a few more jobs if you'll have us. I like this ship."

He reached over and gave the bulkhead a pat, smiling like he was proud of his ship and her ability to draw people in. And perhaps he was. Halo understood the relationship between captain and ship, if only through witnessing it. "If we find another job while docked, you two can stay. I'm sure we can find some food for Niki to cook up, and someone for you to shoot, unless you'd rather get in another fight with Jayne…"

Halo caught the suggestion and leveled her gaze on Mal. Who, to his credit, didn't flinch. Just grinned. So, Halo turned and marched down the hall, passing the aforementioned thug on the way. She glared at him and kept walking, annoyed at him and at the nagging urge to smile.

* * *

><p>"So," Halo said, as she pulled a clean t-shirt over her braided hair, "are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or you just going to try and be me until I guess?"<p>

Niki, who was sitting on Halo's bed, glowered up at her sister, arms crossed under her chest, and jaw clenched as tightly as she could manage. It was tight enough that Halo thought she was in danger of breaking a few teeth. "You should know what's wrong," she grumbled. "You're not stupid."

"No, I'm not, but I'm not a mind-reader either, and there are a multitude of things that could be pissing you off." Halo dropped onto the bed beside Niki and leaned back against her pillow, head resting on the wall. "So just tell me, Niki, before I throw _you _out an airlock." The comment might have been jovial coming through anyone else's lips, but Halo looked about as lighthearted as a grave. However, Niki did not respond. She kept up her own surly demeanor, brown eyes locked to his sister's face. After a moment, something in Halo's brain clicked and she scoffed loudly. "Seriously Niki—you're pissed about me and Jayne getting in a fight? Why the hell does it matter so much?"

"Because fighting is your version of foreplay."

Halo snarled and got to her feet, standing close enough to invade Niki's personal space and fighting the very real urge to hit her sister. Niki held the fiery gaze for almost thirty seconds before she looked away.

The submission served to remind Halo how young Niki was; not necessarily in age, since she was only three years younger than Halo, but in the ways of the 'Verse. Niki hadn't spent much time alone after her family had been killed, so she hadn't had the opportunity to become hardened like Halo. Halo wasn't even sure Niki _could _become a hard person. She was too nice, too considerate. Combined with her attachment to her past, that left Niki feeling threatened and jealous.

Halo leaned back against the wall as she sighed, trying to push her anger away. She didn't really know how to deal with hurt Niki, regardless of how long they'd been together. "What… What the _hell _does that matter?"

"Did you start the fight?"

"He hit me first."

"Did you provoke him?"

Halo hesitated, only for a brief second. It was enough. Niki's dark eyes flared with anger as she got to her feet and stomped out of the room.

* * *

><p>Niki made it to the door of the engine room before she dropped to her butt on the floor and crossed her legs underneath her; the sudden silence after her stomping feet on the metal rang in her ears. She wasn't crying and she didn't feel like she was going to cry, but she did want to scream. She was almost shaking with the suppressed urge. And with anger. Her short rope concerning Halo was all but gone and she wanted to rail against her sister, scream and kick and snarl until Halo stopped being stupid, until she flat-out agreed that they'd get off the boat and find a place to live.<p>

She could feel Halo slipping away from her and she didn't know what to do about it.

"You OK?"

Niki gave a start and then looked up at the young woman peeking around the engine room door. Her eyes were wide and her face concerned underneath a messy head of hair, and Niki instantly like her. She knew the woman was Kaylee and was in charge of _Serenity_'s engines, but she had never had a chance to talk to her beyond an introduction. It looked like she'd just woken up.

"Did I wake you up?"

Kaylee shrugged. "I needed to get up anyway. So, you OK?"

Niki sighed and closed her eyes. "Yeah," she said. "Just fuming a little bit. Halo's not always… an easy person to talk to."

The mechanic didn't look surprised at that news. "Well," Kaylee said, crouching down so she was eye-level with Niki. "If you don't mind me saying, you ain't been looking so shiny today either. Something about the fight Halo and Jayne had is not sittin' well with you, is it?"

Niki shook her head. She wasn't surprised she felt comfortable talking to Kaylee. The two were similar, right down to both painting their kitchens yellow. "I'm not really sure why. I mean, I knew Jayne when he was—"

"What was he like back then? Before all the pirating?"

Niki shrugged and said, "Not much different. A little less angry, but otherwise, still the same. He was probably a bad influence on my brothers and me, but it didn't matter. I idolized him, and he knew it. I never expected to see him again."

"Maybe, after layin' eyes on him again, you wanted more and since Halo's getting close to him, you're mad."

The uncomfortable shifting that resulted told Niki that Kaylee was right. She didn't want to be hung up on Jayne, but he was a wonderful part of her past, a past she'd been trying to move on from at Halo's urging. Having him show up in her life again, and find that Halo was inexplicably… becoming involved with him, regardless of how unintended or unwanted it was, was not what she had expected. _That _wasn't the situation she had unconsciously been yearning for. She shared a look with Kaylee and then sighed, dropping her head back against the metal wall with an echoing thud.

"Ouch."

Kaylee wrapped a hand around Niki's arms and drew her upward. "Come on. Let's have a drink."

* * *

><p>Unable to sleep with all the thoughts running around in her brain, Halo left her room a few moments after Niki and made her way to the cargo bay. Her feet, once again bare, pressed a little painfully into the floor, but she relished it, rocking back and forth, allowing it to keep her alert and awake; her eyelids were threatening to close, but she knew she would never get to sleep anyway.<p>

Wandering around _Serenity _at night to think was becoming a habit already.

Maybe she'd see if she could stay on board… Flying around the stars in the old ship appealed greatly. Perhaps more than setting up a home on some backwater planet again…

As her thoughts wandered over the possibility of breaking up the life she'd had with Niki, her eyes wandered over the rather well-lit cargo bay, finally coming to rest on a pair of straps hanging from a lower section of the same grated metal that made up the catwalk. She crossed the room and stretched up to wrap her hands around the straps and started to haul herself up methodically, the top of her head barely brushing the metal just before she lowered herself every time. Reflexively, she started counting under her breath, the rhythmic gesture helping to drive the thoughts of Niki and their bizarre situation form her mind. She got so deep into the motion of moving herself up and down, in feeling the strain on her muscles—already fatigued from the exertion earlier that day—that she didn't hear someone approach.

"You're starting to shake."

Startled so bad she couldn't force herself to hold on, Halo dropped to the ground, stumbling slightly as she landed, and then whipped around as soon as she had her balance back. "Are you making it your personal mission to sneak up on me when I'm lost in thought?" she snapped, her hands instantly lifting to her hips.

Jayne grunted. "It's not my problem if you think in bad places."

"What do you want?"

He tilted his head towards the straps. "Can't sleep."

The pair stood, staring at one another for a moment, before Halo stepped aside and dropped onto a nearby box, folding her legs underneath her and leaning back against one of the supporting bars of the section of grating the straps were attached to, her pale eyes affixing to Jayne as he began his work out, apparently unperturbed by his spectator. Her eyes fell on something orange sticking out of his back pocket and, while he was occupied, she grabbed it, withdrawing a wool hat made from orange, red, and yellow yarn.

Halo found herself smiling at the fact that Jayne—big, tough, scary Jayne—would have that hat.

"Did your Mom make this for you?" she asked, her amusement plain in her voice.

The big man dropped down and made a grab for the hat, a move Halo deftly dodged. She got to her feet and, clutching the hat close to her chest, took a few steps backwards, staying just out of reach of his hand.

"What if she did?"

Sensing she was on the edge of another fight, Halo stopped moving and looked down at the hat in her hands. It made her a little jealous to know that Jayne had a family, or a mother at least, who cared about him enough to make him a hat, bizarre as it was. It didn't seem fair that he, a man who had made his way acting as a thug, as a pirate, as a smuggler, still had a family when she had no one, and had had no one since she was a little girl. But that wasn't his fault. Besides, she was no better than him. She'd probably done everything he had in making her way from place to place. So, instead of egging Jayne on, she looked up at him with the most peaceful face she could manage.

"I like it," she said. She pulled it on her head, walked around Jayne and sat back down on her box.

Jayne stared at her for several long seconds, a muscle in his cheek working as he tried to find something to say. When he finally found his words, he jabbed a thumb at the open area behind him and said, "Let's spar."

Halo readily moved into position, the hat still on her head.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

* * *

><p>OK, so it's been quite a long time since I've forayed into the 'Verse, but here I am, back again! I'm quite excited to finish this fic, and the chapters from here on out will be better with less… repetitiveness. Apparently, that's a bad habit I need to break when it comes to writing. This, aside from my Mass Effect fanfiction, will probably be the last fanfic-related thing I write for a long-while. I think I've finally found my stride with my novel, and things are starting to fall into place.<p>

So, anyways, please enjoy this chapter and know that there are more to come, albeit probably slowly. I really enjoy writing all these characters, even if they are difficult at some point, and I just have to finish this one. It may be my best thought-out plot ever. Pfft, yeah right.

Also, we're moving more towards the relationship-y stuff now, which I know some of you were looking for. Or, at least, I hope you were. Still going to be the same sort of stuff from the previous chapters, but the girls are more cemented in the world now, so we get to do the development stuff! Or something.

I may have said this before, there wasn't a whole lot of detailed planning behind this one.

Night time meetings are apparently becoming a thing for Halo and Jayne, and to be fair, that would probably be the best time for their... encounters.

They're strange people.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Monotony.<strong>


	9. Chapter Nine: Monotony

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

* * *

><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Nine: Monotony.

* * *

><p>For the first time that either of them could remember, Niki and Halo did not speak for several days as <em>Serenity <em>traveled towards Athens. The day after the crew had finished the exchange on Reserve, Mal had words with one of his acquaintances that there may be opportunity to earn some serious coin on the planet; there weren't many settlements there, but it had become quite the centre for trading and transporting of all flavours. The only issue was its distance from the ship's current location: three or four days through space, stopping nowhere and for nothing except for a quick refuel at one of the tiny floating stations scattered about the 'Verse. This left the crew to find their own forms of amusement, and Halo and Niki found their entertainment away from each other.

Niki had found common ground with Simon, who enjoyed teaching her ways to improve her basic medical skills. They spent a good many hours in the med bay while she told him how she'd tend to certain wounds or illnesses, and practiced when members of the crew appeared with minor injuries. River also joined in, peering over Niki's shoulders while she went through the motions and making comments that were sometimes constructive and sometimes made no sense.

She also found that there was a connection between her and Kaylee, the two taking joy in each other's bright personalities. She spent more and more time in the engine room, leaning the basics of the maintenance preformed on _Serenity, _while she and Kaylee discussed the allure of living in one place, of having a solid home, and the things that continued to draw them to the stars. They talked about boys and men and what they were attracted to. They talked about brothers and sisters and family and for the first time, Niki was opening up to someone other than Halo, telling someone else her past.

"Your whole family?" Kaylee asked, her eyes wide and shimmering, her mouth slightly agape with horror.

Niki nodded slowly, her mind in the past and her eyes somewhere on the ceiling of the engine room. She wasn't seeing the reddish metal though, she was seeing the faces of her brothers, her mother, and her father.

"I'm so sorry, Niki."

The woman shrugged. "It still hurts but… but not as much as you'd think." Niki finally turned her slightly almond-shaped eyes back to Kaylee, bringing her attention and thoughts back to present. "Halo and I have done so much and gone so many places since then. I've lived so much that my family… they're in the past. Firmly in the past."

"Really?"

Niki and Kaylee stared at each other for a moment, the former's dark eyes hardening while Kaylee's continued to shimmer with unshed tears. "Yes," she finally answered. "Really."

The girls feel silent. Kaylee trying to process what Niki had said and Niki trying to deal with the fact that she hadn't lied, that she really had moved on from her family's gruesome deaths, that they were really in the past. She dropped her head back against the wall, the metal ringing slightly. Kaylee reached across and patted Niki's knee before passing her a flask she pulled from a compartment in the floor.

Niki raised an eyebrow but took a swig and found it was the alcohol the engineer distilled with the power of _Serenity_'s engines. She took a longer drink and then passed the flask back to Kaylee with a smile.

* * *

><p>Halo meanwhile took comfort in any sort of physical motion she could find.<p>

She was mentally and emotionally drained and needed to do anything and everything to keep herself distracted. The dreams of her brothers wouldn't leave. She woke every night covered in sweat and tears, the guilt and pain pounding through her. When she was awake, her mind would wander to bad, dark places unless she kept it occupied with something else, something far removed from the terrible thoughts of her family and her situation.

The best physical activity she'd found was sparring with Jayne. He was relentless. Their matches usually ended with one or both of them bleeding and bruised, and both of them breathless and smiling.

Usually, they just used their bare hands, his fists heavy and hard while hers were quick and solid. Sometimes, she focused more on movement and jabs with stiffened fingers, but Jayne was surprisingly quick for his size, and usually caught her hands and feet before she make contact with his floating ribs, nerves, or weak points like the back of his knees or neck.

Sometimes though, they used knives, and that was when the blood usually flowed from some place other than a nose.

They didn't let up on each other while they moved around the cargo bay in either case, and only Mal's command that they not kill each other kept them from taking that final step, the step both of them had been conditioned to take.

Halo and Jayne were currently engaged in an unarmed sparring match. It was somewhere close to what would be midnight, as was becoming the norm for their meetings. She was barefoot, dressed in the shorts and shirt of her pyjamas, and, strangely enough, he was barefoot as well, though the rest of his clothes were his standard fare. Halo had awoken from another dream and come to pace around the cargo bay about twenty minutes before, and Jayne had shown up as he sometimes did. The big man seemed to always wake in the middle of the night and then go back to sleep after an hour or so.

The already exhausted woman ducked under another punch from Jayne and came back up, driving two fairly solid blows to his midsection. Greeted by a grunt, Halo flashed a grin that was more of a sneer and took a few steps back across the metal.

"What's got you so angry?" Jayne asked. He sounded a little breathless, but he didn't stop. He made a grab for her arm, a move Halo expected and moved away from.

Briefly she thought about telling him the truth, but instead she said, "Your ugly face."

Jayne took the jab in stride, landing a punch to her side, digging up under her ribs. "My ugly face has been staring back at ya every time, Halo, but you ain't never had this much fire."

His tone sounded too much like her brother; Casey's voice echoed through her head _no one's got fire like you, Sera-Star, no one. _A cry that was too desperate broke past her lips and she threw herself at Jayne, fingers like claws and all pretense of civil sparring gone from her eyes.

"FUCK!" Jayne cursed as he shoved her out of the air and off to the side. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Halo picked herself up off the floor and wiped the blood and spit from her chin, her pale eyes narrowed on Jayne. She wanted to scream and rage and hit, a purely physical response, but she couldn't. The weariness in her mind had finally seeped through to her muscles, her bones, and she sagged. She would have fallen back to the floor had their sparring not taken them to the far end of the cargo bay, close to the sitting area. Halo stumbled up to the couch and fell to the somewhat comfortable cushions; they felt like the most comfortable place in the world to her right then.

Jayne just stood there, staring and waiting for an answer of some kind.

"I can't do it anymore."

"What?"

"I can't move around the 'Verse anymore. I want to stay up here in the black, flying through the stars…" Against her will, tears started falling. Damn, she was tired.

Jayne rolled his eyes and gave his unhappy grunt. "I ain't sittin' here listening to you weep about your problems."

"I didn't ask you too," Halo snapped.

"Why did you attack me?" he asked after a few long seconds of silence had passed.

"For a minute… you reminded me of my brother." She rolled her head to the side so she could look up at the big man. The truth was on the tip of her tongue again and this time she couldn't find any reason not to. "I was the youngest of five and I had four brothers. The oldest one took care of all of us. They were all killed by the Reavers, along with my parents." She blinked and looked off to the side, her mind drifting back to the past. "I can't let go of the memory of Casey, my oldest brother… And you sounded like him and it just… hurt."

Jayne didn't say anything, but Halo hadn't really expected him to. She pushed herself up off the couch and started towards her room, her limbs feeling like lead. She just wanted to lie down and cry.

As she neared Jayne however, her steps slowed and stopped. She was standing in front of him, her eyes about level with his collarbone. Her icy eyes flicked up and stared at him silently for a moment, her gaze tracing the lines of his face.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Jayne gave a grunt, the one that could have meant anything from acceptance to indifference. Halo kept her gaze on him a moment longer before stepping past him and making her way slowly to bed.

* * *

><p>The day before the boat reached Athens, most of the crew were engaged in a game of their invented sport of tossing the ball through the metal hoop suspended from the ceiling. River was seated on the catwalk above, watching with a big smile on her face. Niki had agreed to play, but Halo still didn't feel like herself. She was seated on the couch, watching the others move about, fighting over the ball and inventing new rules as they went. Halo had given up trying to follow what was going on and was just more interested in watching the people interact as she tried to bring herself back to normal.<p>

She felt the couch sink beside her and turned to find Inara, the companion smiling warmly. Halo tried to smile in return, but the gesture probably appeared hollow.

"You look as if you've seen a ghost," Inara said, her voice calm and soothing. She peered a little closer at Halo's face and added, "Or maybe more than one."

"I haven't had this much downtime in a long time." The normally fiery woman lounged back against the couch, her body turned so that she could more easily see Inara. "Things I haven't thought about in a long time are coming back to haunt me and I'm… well, learning things that are going to change—" Halo shook her head, a little embarrassed that she fell into the companion's trap, even if Inara hadn't meant to lay it. "I'm not talking about this again."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's fine. Do you like living on _Serenity_?"

If Inara was startled by the sudden question, she didn't show it. "It can be trying at times and being aboard this ship has definitely presented opportunities I don't think I would have otherwise had… It hasn't always been easy, but yes, I like it here."

Halo could have imagined it, but she thought Inara's eyes may have drifted towards Mal. She stored that bit of information away and felt a small smile pulling at her lips at the thought of the rugged captain and graceful companion together. For some reason the thought drew her own eyes towards Jayne. It was a look Inara caught.

"Oh Halo… no."

For no reason she could put her finger on, Halo threw back her head and laughed.

* * *

><p>Dinner that evening was a loud affair, everyone pumped full of energy from the games that day and eager to shovel food into their mouths, even if it was nothing more than the same protein they'd been eating for days. Some of Kaylee's alcohol was broken out and shared around and when everyone had had probably more than was good for them, Mal broke out in songs they'd sung in the trenches, joined by Zoe and Jayne and Wash. The others joined in when it was a song everyone knew, even River who decided halfway through that she was going to change the words to make more sense. Everyone got a good laugh from that.<p>

When the songs were done and the crew of the firefly-class vessel had all wandered off to bed—Zoe was practically dragging Wash, and Jayne nearly fell down the ladder into his bunk. Book and Inara left, chatting quietly to each other—they were remarkably sober—and Simon and River left together as well, the doctor eager to get his sister into bed before she fell over.

Kaylee left with goodbyes and hugs for Niki, Halo, and Mal, singing under her breath all the while. The captain, after looking from one woman to the next, got to his feet and tottered from the kitchen muttering something about keeping everyone alive and safe and getting money enough to fix his ship; the mumbles continued until he vanished down into his bunk and the door closed, leaving Niki and Halo alone in the kitchen, staring at each other and wondering what to say.

Things had never been awkward between them.

About five minutes of the silence passed before Halo got to her feet and strode from the room, leaving Niki picking at the remains of their dinner.

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><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

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><p>This thing will get finished.<p>

Eventually.

Nothing really happened in this chapter.

But I had to write it.

Halo and Jayne getting closer.

Halo and Niki getting farther apart.

Now I'm writing an emo song.

I'm going to stop now.

Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter.

More things will happen soon.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Hats in Space.<strong>


	10. Chapter Ten: Hats in Space

I do not own **Firefly **or anything belonging to the franchise. I do own most of this plot and Halo and my friend owns Nikita Shen. The fic is rated for language (in English), violence, blood, gore, drinking, smoking and sexual situations. Please enjoy responsibly.

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><p><strong>Space Dementia.<br>**Chapter Ten: Hats in Space.

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><p>The main settlement of Athens wasn't that big, and Halo wasn't entirely sure she could call it something as dignifying as town. It was more a collection of buildings pressed together next to a large, flat piece of land that could be used as a landing area for ships or shuttles or whatever. It was hot and dry and the sun was shining insistently from a sky that was more purple than blue—something to do with the atmosphere apparently. The air was full of dust and the only shade to be found was in the narrow alleys functioning as streets.<p>

Halo stood just inside the loading dock of _Serenity, _looking out at the dismal setting with a frown on her face. Jayne's hat was on her head, the ear flaps and the pom-pom on top twitching in the hot breeze. She'd stolen the hat again and she was sure Jayne would have done something about it if he was still on the ship. Mal, Jayne, and Zoe had gone in search of Mal's contact, and Wash and Kaylee were off looking for parts and supplies for the ship and crew. Simon had gone with them to restock his medical equipment, and Inara, Book, and River were still on board, doing whatever it was that they did to pass the time. Halo didn't know where Niki was.

With a short sigh that was part frustration and part boredom, Halo marched down the ramp, her boots kicking up a cloud of dust as she hit the ground. The sun was nearly unbearable against her jacket, so she pulled it off, revealing scared arms and not caring who saw her weapons. No one had said she had to stay with the ship.

As the ramshackle buildings appeared around her, Halo exhaled in relief. The shade wasn't much cooler, but it was at least out of the bright light of the sun.

She wandered for a while, her jacket tucked into her belt, and one hand resting on the butt of her shotgun in a non-threatening way. If that was possible. Most of the people Halo passed did stare at her, but most of them tried to hide it. Some of them looked scared. Halo didn't care.

Someone was playing music somewhere, faint tendrils of it winding their way through the streets. Halo could hear people laughing as well, coming from the same direction. She found herself in a market after several minutes of walking. The air was full of the various smells of alcohol and food and sweat and the scent of leather from a nearby stall.

Halo was caught off guard by the memory of when she'd found Niki, a tiny thing, all skin and bones and wasting away in the shadows. That had been in a market too, a bigger one than this, busy and hot and stinky. Halo had spotted Niki crouched beside a stall, looking like she could barely stand, one skeletal hand reaching out towards the meat-filled pastries the man was selling. She'd watched Niki's fingers brush the food and then a big, hairy hand had wrapped around her skinny wrist and hauled her to her feet.

That was when Halo had stepped in and practically thrown her money at the man, claiming Niki was her sister and that she'd lost track of the whelp. She'd marched Niki away then and they'd been inseparable since.

Well, until recently.

Halo sighed as she approached a store set back from the others. It looked like it sold clothing as well as a bunch of assorted knick-knacks.

"Hey!"

Despite the fact she knew what was coming, Halo felt herself smiling. She turned to face the big man and touched two fingers to her brow before stepping inside the store. It was dim, lit only by the sunshine outside, and stuffy. The owner of the shop had been seated outside the only door, so there was no one else inside. At least, not until Jayne stepped into the darkness, his frame briefly blocking out the light coming through the doorway.

"Give me back my hat."

Halo turned to face him and pretended to think. "No. I told you, I like it."

Jayne approached and Halo walked backwards until her back bumped up against a shelf, the rickety wooden thing shaking and sending several things tumbling to the floor. He reached out to swipe the hat from her head, but she ducked. Unfortunately for her, Jayne was ready. He used his other hand to grab her forearm and haul her back to her feet. There was a moment when they just glared at each other.

Halo reached up and removed the hat from her head, the colourful yarn pulling strands of her dark hair free of the knot at the back of her head; some of the shorter pieces frizzed out with the static. Her eyes never left his.

"Now my head is cold," she whispered. She'd intended it to come out angry.

"Lots of hats in here."

Halo thought he'd walk away, but like the last time they'd sparred, he just stood there, looking at her. His hand tightened on her arm and a small noise escaped her lips. Without thinking about it, Halo balled a hand in his t-shirt and pulled him closer. Jayne tensed as if preparing for an attack. Halo briefly thought about doing just that, but didn't get a chance before he kissed her.

It was a deep, rough kiss. His hand tightened painfully on her arm. Halo pulled herself closer.

All the energy normally found in their sparring matches suddenly took on a whole new tone. His hat vanished, probably into a pocket, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, one sliding down to cup her ass as he crushed her to him, her hands pinned between their chests.

Halo broke away to gasp down air, but Jayne reclaimed her mouth, pressing her harder against the shelf. It rocked and fell back, banging against the wall before it could fall all the way to the ground. Thrown off balance, the pair stumbled backwards until Halo's shoulders hit the wall, grunting with the impact. Jayne's hands slid down her side until he reached her thighs and he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips, wincing as his weapons dug into her skin through her pants.

"Shit, this isn't so comfortable with all the weapons on," she breathed. Jayne took her weight in his arms again so she could drop her feet to the floor. She hooked an elbow around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. "Besides, I thought Mal wanted to leave Athens as soon as he was done with his contact."

"I think he was waitin' on Wash and them to get back to the boat."

He moved to kiss her again, but she kept him at bay. "Well then, you wanna finish what you started…" Halo bent down and picked up a top hat that had fallen to the floor and placed it on her head. "You can follow me back to the ship." She walked out the door, dropping what little money she had on the table to pay for the hat and any damage they'd caused.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for the help Niki. Maybe I could convince Mal to keep you around."<p>

Niki smiled at Wash as she shoved the last crate into place in the cargo bay. His words and the thought behind them were nice, but she didn't want to stick around. "Thanks Wash," she answered with another smile. "Let me know if you need any more help." She waved at the redhead as he vanished deeper into the ship.

It had been a long day in the sun, wandering from store to store, stall to stall, ship to ship, and vendor to vendor just looking for parts and supplies _Serenity _was in sore need of. Kaylee was particularly bad for spending inordinate amounts of time selecting a replacement for the tiniest part on the ship. Wash had wanted to take several detours to look for something nice for his wife. But it didn't matter. It had been a good day and Niki had had a good time. Niki had relished the opportunity to actually work. It had been so long since she'd done anything purely physical like that. It had felt good to just do something instead of thinking about it.

And she hadn't spent longer than a few minutes thinking about Halo and their problem, or the problems she perceived. She had even begun picturing a home and a place to work just for her. It seemed kind of lonely at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

But she hadn't let that thought stay long. It was her and Halo. It was supposed to be her and Halo and whatever family they could build up around them.

Niki sighed and straightened herself up before she meandered into the blue-lit medical bay. "Hey Simon," she said, leaning on the doorframe and crossing her arms under her chest.

The young doctor turned at her voice and pushed some of his black hair out of his eyes. "Oh, hey Niki." He smiled at her, the expression changing his face considerably. He spent too much worrying about his sister. There were already lines on his face. "Need anything?"

"No, I just wanted to chat. Now that all the work is done, I'm bored."

Simon laughed. He wiped his hands and shoved the box he was sorting to one side. With another smile, he left the small room to join Niki on the couch in the sitting area nearby. "All right. I haven't got anyone to patch up right now or any other pressing medical matters."

Niki snorted. "Oh, you mean Halo hasn't injured herself or anyone today?"

The look Simon gave Niki didn't share in any of the dark humour in her tone. He stared at her, looking a little confused and alarmed at her words. "I thought the two of you were close."

"So did I, but I don't think she wants the same things I do anymore."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Simon asked like it was the most obvious course of action in the world.

"I've tried, but I look at her and I get so mad. I just want to yell and scream and hit her, but if I ever did that, she'd… I dunno, win? She's bigger, louder, tougher and she always, always wins fights."

"You two are an odd match."

Niki sighed and sprawled sideways in her chair, her legs draped over one arm. "I know, and I'm starting to really see it. I'm starting to almost… regret staying with her this long. I think it was stupid thing to even think she'd stay in one place for very long."

"And you want to?"

"I want a home, Simon."

The doctor got to his feet and knelt beside her, taking one of her hands in his. "Niki, you have got to talk to her."

She sighed loudly and made an over-exaggerated motion of deflating across the chair. Simon laughed. "You're right, of course. Do you know where she is?"

"I think she's in her room."

Simon helped her out of the chair in a very gentlemanly fashion. She gave him a little curtsey and a smile before she crossed the cargo bay and headed down the hall towards Halo's room. She stopped just outside the door though, the noises of pleasure leaking through the not-so-substantial walls. The noises of pleasure and a familiar low voice.

Niki felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Tears stung her eyes and she felt the urge to scream and attack things welling up inside; if the ship hadn't been spaceborne again, she would have stormed out and found some place to hide, somewhere where she could do something anything so she wouldn't attack Halo, even though that was all she wanted to do.

Instead, she marched back up to the kitchen and started digging through what was there for something to cook. It was her turn for dinner anyway.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note.<strong>

* * *

><p>I don't even know with this fic anymore. I know where it ends, but getting there is going to be a long haul. I'm going to finish it because I hate leaving things unfinished, so you'll just have to bear with me. I apologize because I know there are a few of you who really like this fic.<p>

Originally, there was a lot more action, but I changed it because, well, not everything in the show is action, either. Also, I'm really bad at writing action and though I know I need to write it to get better at it, it makes me really angry, and I don't write fanfiction to get angry. I write it to help me feel better. The result is silly/filler chapters like this that focus mostly on character progression.

There is more action coming up though. Like, in the next chapter.

Anyways, thanks to those who still read this fic, and apologies for slow and infrequent updating.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Another Job.<strong>


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